An off-duty lifeguard swam through more than a mile of turbulent surf last night to rescue a young military man off O'ahu's Leeward coast beyond Yokohama Bay, an official said.

The lifeguard, Bouvey Bradbury, jumped into the water near an area known as the Moi Hole and helped bring the man to safety about 8 p.m. last night, said Jim Howe, chief operations officer for the city's Ocean Safety Division.

"It was one of the more heroic things I've heard about in all the years I've been doing this job," Howe said.

Howe said the ordeal began when one of three military men walking in the area beyond the end of the road jumped into the water and couldn't return.

"It's an area where there's no way to get back to shore once you are in," Howe said.

Bradbury heard the men screaming for help shortly after sunset and went into the water, where waves were about 6 feet, Howe said.

Bradbury stayed with the man, who was scratched and bleeding, and pulled him for almost a mile through shark-inhabited waters to a surf spot known as Second Dip, where they were finally able to come ashore. The man was taken to Wahiawa General Hospital in fair condition.

Howe said Bradbury told him later, "Both of us were blessed by God tonight."

The rescue took place beyond where the paved road ends at Yokohama Bay, formally known as Keawa'ula Bay. The unpaved road is washed away at one point but hikers can follow a footpath to Ka'ena Point, O'ahu's far northwest point.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.