North Carolina boy was told not to turn his back to the waves, but when he did, it almost cost his aunt everything

Nicole Woods considers it a miracle that she can share her story, and with good reason. According to PEOPLE, on 21st May, the head women’s basketball coach for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington was enjoying a day out with her family at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, when she was forced into a life-saving struggle against the ocean. 

Woods was out with her two daughters, her niece, and her nephew, when the 8-year-old boy asked to head into the water. She agreed but made sure to give him a very specific instruction: do not turn your back to the waves. Unfortunately, the boy still ended up making the fatal mistake and a wave immediately pulled him under. Woods didn’t hesitate to rush into the ocean to reach him, but then things spiraled out of control when they were both caught in a powerful rip current.

Realizing they were in deep trouble, Woods attempted to push her nephew toward a man she saw entering the water to help. She knew she couldn’t manage to get both of them to safety. She told NBC affiliate WECT, “And so me going under the water and pushing him up towards the help would make the decision for him—to save my nephew first,” Woods stated. “By then it felt like a suction cup pulling me under, and that’s the last thing I remember.”

Thankfully, there was help nearby to save the day

According to ABC affiliate WWAY, the rescue effort was bolstered by three friends, Ryan Gillespie, Giuseppe Marturano, and Dashaun Brown, who were nearby preparing for a soccer tournament. When they heard the cries for help, Gillespie and Brown rushed into the rough water. 

It was instinctive, as Brown later told WWAY, “You kinda just gotta go with your gut and do what’s right. I can’t lie and say that I wasn’t scared or like that I was going to drown. But I figured I need to save somebody’s life.”

The situation was dire for the rescuers as well. “We were in a really, really bad situation,” Gillespie told. “It wasn’t, ‘Hey, let’s get them and swim them back to shore.’ It was like, ‘Let’s survive this.’” 

While his friends entered the water, Marturano stayed on the sand and called 911. WWAY reported that within five minutes, the Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue team arrived. Sam Proffitt and his team were able to pull the coach and her nephew to safety.

When Woods was brought to the shore, she was not breathing and had no pulse. It is a terrifying reminder of how easy it is to drown, even on family friendly outings. First responders performed chest compressions for five minutes before using a shock to revive her heart. She was eventually taken to a medical center, where she spent a day on a ventilator, while her nephew was kept overnight for observation. 

Thankfully, she is now recovering without any long-term effects. “I’m a very strong swimmer and if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone,” Woods told WECT. “We are all doing well and recovering nicely,” she later added in an email to PEOPLE.

Per WWAY, the three rescuers also needed the time to recover. Gillespie admitted that he couldn’t sleep for two days afterward, still processing the sight of Woods being pulled from the water. A town spokesperson for Wrightsville Beach told PEOPLE “that the ocean is powerful, unpredictable, and can become dangerous very quickly. It can impact even the strongest swimmers.”

Fortunately, despite the odds, everyone is safe and recovering well.