Peyton Hillis admits it’s ‘100% a miracle somebody didn’t die’ in saving son and niece from drowning

Ex-NFL star Peyton Hillis admits it’s ‘100% a miracle somebody didn’t die’ while saving his son, 9, and niece, 8, from drowning at a Florida beach as he speaks out for the first time

• Peyton Hillis saved his son and niece from drowning in Florida this past January
• The former running back suffered serious health issues after the heroic act
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

By Jake Nisse and Alex Raskin For Dailymail.com

Former NFL running back Peyton Hillis has admitted it’s ‘100 percent a miracle somebody didn’t die’ five months after he saved his son and niece from drowning in Florida.

Hillis and his family were swimming on a Penascola beach when his son and niece, who are nine and eight years old respectively, got caught in a dangerous riptide.

Hillis ran into the water to save the children – and managed to do so – but wound up in intensive care himself for lung and kidney failure.

He spent 10 days sedated on a ventilator before regaining consciousness.  

‘It is 100% a miracle that somebody didn’t die,’ Hillis told ‘Good Morning America’.

Peyton Hillis spoke to ABC News about the harrowing incident which happened in January

Hillis saved his son Orry (and niece Camille, not pictured) but had health issues himself after

Hillis required medical attention after saving the children and was airlifted to a hospital

Hillis, 37 years old, admitted he had to make a harrowing decision to save his niece first. 

‘I think the scariest point … was when I’m swimming to my son and I have to pass by him because my niece is in more danger,’ he said. 

‘I knew that I had to pass him up to get to Camille first. Because, you know, if I didn’t then there’s no way she would’ve made it.’

The former running back said his son was ‘pretty much limp’ by the time he got to him.

‘He didn’t have any more strength in him to swim and I’m sitting there holding him,’ he said. ‘You can’t swim and you’re holding him, you’re seeing his eyes roll back in the back of his head.’

‘Lord, please. Like, I really don’t care about my life,’ he remembers thinking. ‘I don’t. But if we can get him out of here that’s the only thing I’m going to care about.’

Hillis said while there was a ‘bad storm’ the night prior to the incident, there were ‘no flags’ used to warn beachgoers of potential hazardous conditions.

And Davis Wood,  the public information and education officer of the Escambia Country Board of County Commissioners, told ABC News that the nearest flag that day was ‘a mile away.’

Hillis’ children are seen with his now-ex-wife, Amanda, during his short tenure in Kansas City

Still Wood cautioned that the flags Hillis was referring to were ‘surf warning flags’ and said that their absence ‘does not assure water safety.’

The 2008 seventh-round pick was confronted with that fact when he saw his son and niece waving their hands and screaming in the water.

‘I hear my mom screaming and so, I looked at her and she pointed out to my son, and she says, ‘Orry and Camilla are drowning,’ said Hillis.

‘And so, I didn’t even think, I reacted and started running into the water,’ said Hillis.

Hillis played seven NFL seasons with the Broncos, Browns, Chiefs and Giants.

He’s best known for his 2010 season with Cleveland, where he put up 1,600 total yards and 13 total touchdowns. 

As a result of that campaign, he won a national vote to be the cover athlete for the video game EA Sports Madden 12.

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