In an amazing tale of survival, a woman walked from the sea alive at the weekend after she was washed down a West Coast river and out into sea.
Her car had crashed near the Arahura River, north of Hokitika, after midnight on Friday.
Her six year old son, who was in the car with her, tried but failed to pull his mother from the river before he walked almost two kilometres in the dark for help.
The 41-year-old woman was found - the next morning - walking out of the sea by Bronwyn Vercoe and her partner, John.
Bronwyn Vercoe told Corin Dann the woman's survival was a miracle.