A fisherman who thought he had spotted a doll in the sea actually pulled a miraculously alive 18-month-old baby out of the water.
The baby, called Malachi had gone missing from a nearby holiday park after escaping from his tent while his parents were sleeping.
Gus Hutt, was fishing near a holiday park in the Bay of Plenty region in New Zealand when he spotted what he thought was a doll in the sea.However, he soon realised it was a real baby when he pulled the 'doll' from the sea and it let out a little squeak.
He told the Whakatāne Beacon: "His face looked like porcelain with his short hair wetted down. But then he let out a little squeak and I thought, 'oh God, this is a baby and it's alive'.
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"He was floating at a steady pace with a rip in the water. If I hadn't been there, or if I had just been a minute later I wouldn't have seen him."
Gus' wife ran to the holiday park where she found the baby's parents and told them that their son had been found alive in the sea.
The parents said Malachi had opened the entrance to their tent while they were sleeping and crawled under the flap, before making his way to the beach.
Malachi's mother, Jessica Whyte, has said that she was terrified after being woken up to be told her son had been pulled from the sea.
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She told Stuff: "I don't think my heart [beat] from hearing that to seeing him. I don't think my heart worked.
"It was scary but he was breathing, he was alive. It was amazing seeing him. I gave him a big hug."
After being found Malachi was checked by emergency services and taken to hospital, however, Jessica also added that he hasn't changed since the incident.
She said: "He's himself. Maybe he'll be more aware of water, not run into beaches. But he's definitely himself."
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After finding the boy, Gus retraced the 18-month-old's steps using his footsteps in the sand.
He said: "It was about 50 feet away from where I had my rod, so he wasn't in the water long," he said.
"I must've just missed seeing him go in ... He was bloody lucky, but he just wasn't meant to go; it wasn't his time."
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