A Nova Scotia man is being hailed as a hero after he died saving his wife from drowning at a local beach on the weekend.

Inverness District RCMP said they responded to a report of a suspected drowning at Port Hood Beach in Cape Breton, N.S. just before 2 p.m. local time on Saturday.

Police said a 59-year-old man and his 64-year-old wife, both from Sydney, N.S., were in the ocean when they required assistance getting back to shore.

After several attempts at resuscitation, the man was pronounced dead. His wife was rescued from the water and transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to police.

The RCMP didn’t release the man’s name, but CTV Atlantic discovered that he is a former employee of ATV Cape Breton named Greg MacDonald.

He worked as a cameraman until 1993 and continued to volunteer his time with a not-for-profit organization called Christmas Daddies and worked for a television program titled Mass for Shut-Ins.

The family said MacDonald was looking forward to his son’s wedding next month.

MacDonald’s family told CTV Atlantic that he was walking with his wife Sharon on the beach when they were knocked over by a strong wave. They said MacDonald pushed his wife towards the shoreline before he was caught up in the riptide.

The family said the medical examiner’s office determined that MacDonald’s cause of death was drowning.

With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore