For Norman Inferrera III, becoming a lifeguard was a longtime dream, writes Patricia Madej for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The rising Phoenixville High School junior finally got the chance to make it a reality when he turned 16 and became eligible to take the test to qualify for Cape May Beach Patrol.

Inferrera told Chief Harry Back that he had been preparing to take the test for two years, in part by watching videos on YouTube.

“He just always had an admiration for what the lifeguards did,” said Back. “He had a love of the ocean. That’s what kind of pushed him and drove him to work really, really hard over the past two years to try out for a beach patrol.”

Sadly, the honor roll student’s life was tragically cut short. He died on Aug. 20 after a wave flipped his boat and knocked him unconscious as he was performing a patrol in the ocean off Reading Avenue Beach.

His heartbroken friends and family remember him as amazing, self-driven, intelligent, and hardworking.

Read more about Norman Inferrera III in The Philadelphia Inquirer.