The 15-year-old was transferred by air ambulance to James Cook University Hospital after he badly cut his leg on broken glass while playing in sand dunes at Saltburn.
Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council lifeguard Karl Swales was first on the scene and gave the youngster first aid as colleagues called for paramedics.
With the location of the incident making it too difficult for the boy to be transferred to an ambulance, the helicopter was summoned and beach supervisor Tom Davis secured a landing site for it.
The boy was carefully lowered down the sand dunes and taken to hospital following the incident on Tuesday.
It was the sixth major incident - out of 120 calls in total - that Saltburn's beach lifeguards had dealt with over the summer months.
These have also included two people with serious spinal injuries and several who were cut off under the cliffs at Huntcliff.
This year's seasonal lifeguard service comes to an end on Sunday, September 5.
Councillor Sheelagh Clarke, the Council's Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism, said: "Our beach lifeguards provide a fantastic service and the way they responded to this latest incident highlights their importance and expertise.
"As we are coming to the end of the summer holiday period the lifeguard service will cease for this year, so we would urge people visiting our coastal resorts to take extra care. Anyone who does get into difficulties should ring 999 and ask for the coastguard."
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