A group of real-life mermaids were practicing how to save lives in open water near Catalina Island, California, when they heard a man calling for help.

Elle Jiminez, 33, who was teaching an advanced PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Mermaid class on Oct. 23, says, “We were already in rescue mode.” “It was such a crazy coincidence.”

Jimenez and one of her students, Elaina Garcia, who were both wearing mono-fins, swam out to help as quickly as they could. Another mermaid, Great Chin Burger, who was wearing bi-fins that day, was also there as a safety diver.

The three women found three scuba divers. One of them, Pablo Avila, was unconscious and not breathing. His mouth was foaming, and he was not moving.

Together, they helped the 73-year-old diver get his gear off, gave him rescue breaths in the water, and helped him swim to shore.

Jimenez says that the event was “really incredible and magical.”

“After that, it was like a fairy tale,” Jimenez says. But at the time, it was “pretty crazy,” she says.

Pablo Avila and Javier Claramunt, both 62, met 46 years ago in a scuba class. Since then, the two have dived together.

They are both experienced scuba divers. Claramunt became a dive master, then a dive instructor, and then the director of a scuba school. Claramunt tells PEOPLE that Avila was once the leader of a scuba club.

He says, “We’ve done this for a while.”

In October, Avila went from his home in Argentina to Mission Vieja, California, to see Claramunt.

On Oct. 23, the two men and Claramunt’s son Joshua went scuba diving off of Catalina Island’s Casino Point, which is a non-profit underwater dive park.

Claramunt says that he checked everyone’s oxygen tank pressure gauges and then decided it was time to go to the surface.

He gave his son a sign, and his son gave him a sign back. His friend was still out on an adventure. Claramunt says, “I went behind him and pulled him.”

“When I told him to go up, he did. He can’t remember anything else.”

Claramunt thinks Avila went up too fast and may have held his breath or had problems with the rented scuba gear.

Claramunt saw foam coming out of Avila’s mouth not long after they came to the surface.

“I can’t breathe,” he said. Claramunt remembers that Avila passed out after that.

Claramunt says, “I grabbed him right away, took off his mask, turned him around, and cleaned his mouth.”

He and his son started pulling Avila toward shore while screaming for help and asking people to call 911.

Claramunt says that when the three mermaids showed up, they were about 80 yards from the stairs down to the water.

Mermaid Rescue

Elaina Garcia, a scuba instructor and mermaid photographer who is 26 years old, says, “As soon as I heard the calls for help, I took off.” “In the mermaid tail, I ran as fast as I could.”

When she got to the three divers, she saw that Avila’s mouth was full of foam.

Garcia tells PEOPLE that things were very bad. “It was a pretty big deal. He was completely out of it and not breathing at all.”

“I started counting after I gave him the first [rescue] breath,” she says. As a certified scuba instructor, she knows how to help people in trouble in the water while wearing full scuba gear.

She only had a mermaid tail and a mask on, so all she had to do was take off the diver’s gear.

She says, “I was able to move very quickly.” “I let him take a breath, and I took some of his stuff off.”

Elle Jimenez and Great Chin Berger, two other mermaids, dropped the diver’s weights. “I gave him a second chance to breathe,” Garcia says. “I helped him take a breath again, and then I kept swimming.”

He says that Claramunt was glad for her help.

Claramunt says, “She did a great job.” “It made me feel better. Because when you’re trying to save someone, you can’t do both CPR and swimming at the same time.

It’s much better if two people do it together, with one doing CPR and the other pulling.”

Rescue workers took Avila to a room with high pressure to treat his aeroembolism.

Garcia says, “I didn’t think he would make it.” “When you see someone who is not breathing, has no pulse. I don’t think you come back from that very often.”

Claramunt says that Avila’s close call with death helped him get back in touch with his daughter and even meet his grandchild.

Claramunt says, “This is a miracle.” “My wife talked to his daughter and told her, “Look, your dad almost died.

Seriously, he was out cold and his heart had stopped, so you guys need to stop being so stupid.’ So that worked out, and he had the best time ever with his daughter.

So I always say that God turns deaths on the cross into new lives.”

Claramunt adds, “This was a crisis that no one wants, but thank God it turned out well. It was the spark that made the rest of his time here so good.”

The mermaids were happy and relieved to hear on the news that Avila was still alive and well.

“He looked like he was dead, and when he got better, he looked so happy. We’re just so glad he’s going to live longer, “Jimenez says. “It’s been amazing and magical beyond words.”