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Mom: It's a Miracle Boy Trapped Underwater for 8 Minutes Survived

The Michigan boy was on vacation with his family at the Avista Resort in North Myrtle Beach

What to Know

  • The Michigan boy was on vacation with his family at the Avista Resort in North Myrtle Beach
  • Surveillance footage captured the frantic efforts to save him
  • The boy is recovering at home in Michigan and has returned to school

The mother of a 12-year-old boy who survived being stuck underwater at a resort pool for almost eight minutes said Monday in an exclusive interview on the "Today" show it’s a miracle her son is alive.

"The people that helped him at the pool, at the hospital and I mean, most importantly, God, I don't know that there's any other explanation for after 8 minutes underwater for him to come out of that at and be alive," Alyssa Pappas told NBC'S Blake McCoy. "It’s just a miracle I think."

The Michigan boy was on vacation with his family at the Avista Resort in North Myrtle Beach last month when his leg got stuck in an intake pipe in a lazy river pool after he and a friend lifted a grate covering the drain.

Surveillance footage captured the frantic efforts to save him. A vacationing Pennsylvania corrections officer Shaun Skursky spent several minutes trying to alternately pull the boy to safety and giving him underwater breaths.

Pappas’ told McCoy her son spent eight days on a ventilator — three of them in a medically induced coma. The boy is recovering at home in Michigan and has returned to school.

“You know, you're on vacation and you think you can take it easy and relax, but even with adults supervision, things can happen. And it happens very quickly,” Pappas added.

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