lifeguards leaving en masse, seven of them in disgust. we are basically supposed to do is watch them die, technically. reporter: just then we came across brian ritchie who walked off this guard tower to turn in the whistle and the shirt off his back. brian, did you just quit? i did just quit. how did it go? it was rough. i am glad that i can separate myself from this. ir i knew if the incident every came up, i would go. reporter: they made a pact choosing to save lives instead of their jobs. matt gutman, abc news, helendale beach, florida. i am so confused. lifeguards are supposed to save people s lives. he should be a hero. they should have promoted him. and given him a reward. because you left your little boundary area? i don t understand that. i m very confused about the whole thing. when rules get in the way of logic. and that would never happen on our beach, sunny. never happen on our beach. never happen. i ll rescue no matter what the boundary is. partic
technically. reporter: just then we came across brian ritchie who walked off this guard tower to turn in the whistle and the shirt off his back. brian, did you just quit? i did just quit. how did it go? it was rough. i am glad that i can separate myself from this. i knew if the incident ever came up, i would go. reporter: they made a pact choosing to save lives instead of their jobs. matt gutman, abc news, helendale beach, florida. i am so confused. lifeguards are supposed to save people s lives. he should be a hero. they should have promoted him. and given him a reward. because you left your little boundary area? i don t understand that. i m very confused about the whole thing. when rules get in the way of logic. and that would never happen on our beach, sunny. never happen on our beach. never happen. i ll rescue no matter what the boundary is. particularly if you are cute. i will go out and save you. come on, girl, let me bring you to safety.