Tearful reunion for Cold Lake man with family he rescued

There were plenty of tears and hugs on the set of American talk show "Anderson" when Paul Gullackson was reunited with the Atkin family.

The 61-year-old home inspector from Cold Lake, Alberta, was on vacation in Honduras when he noticed a plane crash into the Caribbean waters.

Gullackson and his cousin, Larry Forseth, raced to the scene and dove into the water to help Andy Atkin who was struggling to hold onto both his 4-year-old son and unconscious wife, Jenna.

He grabbed a hold of Jenna and managed to keep her head above water until medical help could arrive.

Gullackson then returned home to be inundated with calls from the media about the rescue which was all caught on video tape.

After trying to find the family unsuccessfully on his own, he flew to New York City Wednesday and was reunited with the Atkins during a taping of "Anderson."

"We all hugged and there was some tears," he tells 660News. "They all thanked us again and again; we know they're very happy with what we did."

Gullackson describes the experience as surreal and he's incredibly grateful to see them alive and well.

"She (Jenna) was unconscious with foam coming out of her mouth, eyes rolling back in her head; I really thought she was gone and then to see her back to normal, 100 per cent," he says.

He says the group have exchanged email addresses and he's hopeful they will be able to stay in touch.

Gullackson will return home Saturday, saying he has a week full of home inspections now ahead of him.