( CNN ) -- The south Florida lifeguard fired for leaving his post so he could save a swimmer outside his coverage zone said Thursday he has been offered his job back . But Tomas Lopez told CNN he does not plan to return to work . `` It 's another chapter in my life closed and I am just going to continue to get my schooling finished and get on with my career , '' Lopez told CNN . The 21-year-old said his phone has been ringing off the hook with journalists trying to get his side of the story . Jeff Ellis Management , the company for which Lopez worked , had said lifeguards can not go beyond the perimeter of the beach they are responsible for overseeing . Jeff Ellis told CNN 's `` Erin Burnett OutFront '' on Thursday evening that he did n't approve of the decision to fire Lopez . `` Clearly , he should not have been terminated for what had occurred , '' Ellis said . `` I know that he has tried to do the right thing . '' Three other lifeguards quit in protest and two others were dismissed after saying they would have acted as Lopez did . `` They told us we would be liabilities and we had to be let go , '' lifeguard Travis Madrid told CNN . Ellis told CNN the company has offered to bring back those who were let go . Ellis told the Sun Sentinel newspaper he confirmed that no area of the beach was left unattended while Lopez assisted the swimmer . The incident occurred Monday at Hallandale Beach in on Florida 's Atlantic coast , north of Miami . Lifeguard sues New York over revealing swimsuit rule . A beachgoer rushed to Lopez 's lifeguard station to alert him to a man who was drowning . The man was some 1,500 feet outside the company 's protection zone in an area where signs warn visitors to swim at their own risk , a supervisor with the company told CNN affiliate WPTV . Even though he knew it was outside the company protection zone , Lopez ran into the ocean toward the struggling man and pulled him ashore . The man , he said , had turned blue . `` He was having a lot of trouble breathing , '' Lopez said . A nurse at the beach tended to the victim until emergency medics arrived and rushed him to a hospital . The man was in good condition Thursday , according to Aventura Hospital . Lifeguard Szilard Janko said he guarded Lopez 's zone while the latter aided the swimmer . `` They let him go after he performed the rescue , '' Janko said . `` They fired him basically on the spot . '' After the near-drowning , Lopez said he was asked by his supervisor to complete an incident report . 15 things your lifeguard wo n't tell you . `` At that point I knew I was going to be fired . I knew I had broken the rule , '' Lopez said . `` In those cases , we are supposed to call 911 and hope they get there in time . '' Did Lopez deserve to be fired ? Share your thoughts . Company supervisor Susan Ellis previously told WPTV that Lopez was let go for violating company policy . `` We have liability issues and ca n't go out of the protected area , '' she told the TV station . `` What he did was his own decision . He knew the company rules and did what he thought he needed to do . '' Lopez said he started the $ 8.25-an-hour job four months ago and had hoped to continue working there when he goes to Broward College in the fall . `` I have no doubts I did the right thing , '' he said Thursday . `` I believe I did what was right , and that if someone needs help you 're going to go help them , regardless if you 're a lifeguard or not . '' Confessions of a Jersey Shore lifeguard . CNN 's Kimberly Segal contributed to this report . Read more about this story from CNN affiliate WPTV .
Lopez : Company says Lopez was trying to do the right thing . Lifeguard says he has been given his license back , but does n't plan to return . To save a man , Lopez went outside the area that is under his company 's safety zone . ` ` We have liability . ... What he did was his own decision , '' the company says .