UNC Wilmington women's basketball coach Nicole Woods had to be revived after nearly drowning while trying to rescue her young nephew from some powerful waves in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., last week. She said it was a "miracle" that she survived and is now recovering at home.
"I'm a very strong swimmer and if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone," Woods, 41, told local TV station WECT.
The incident happened on May 21 while on a family beach outing. She was there with her two daughters, who are 15 years old and 10 months old, along with her niece and nephew, who are both 8 years old.
Woods told her nephew he could swim in the ocean but warned him to be careful and not turn his back to the waves. When he made the mistake of turning away, a wave swept him under the water. When Woods rushed in to save him, they both got stuck in a rip current.
Although Woods tried her best to take her nephew back to safety, the waves were too strong, and they were getting tired after a few minutes of being stuck there. She remembers seeing a man coming to help, but at that point Woods, knew he wasn't going to be able to get both of them out, so she went under the water and pushed her nephew toward him.
"By then it felt like a suction cup pulling me under, and that's the last thing I remember," Woods told WECT.
The rescue was possible thanks to multiple people who didn't hesitate to help. Three men at the beach -- Ryan Gillespie, Giuseppe Marturano, and Dashaun Brown -- heard the commotion and quickly jumped into action. Gillespie and Brown rushed into the water while Marturano stayed on the beach to call 911.
"You kinda just gotta go with your gut and do what's right," Brown told WWAY3. "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."
They were brave to jump in, but it didn't take long for them to realize they had put themselves in a very dangerous situation.
"When we got out there, we realized very quickly that we were in a really, really bad situation," Gillespie told WWAY3. "It wasn't, 'Hey, let's get them and swim them back to shore.' It was like, 'Let's survive this.'"
First responders were there in just a few minutes. Per a report, Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue Director Sam Profitt was one of the first ones to arrive. While he worked on saving the child, he found Coach Woods fully submerged in the water.
The rescue team was able to bring Woods and the boy back to shore, but by that point, she was not breathing and didn't have a heartbeat.
It was a scary scene for everyone around. Gillespie said he couldn't sleep for two days, not knowing what had happened to her. All he could think about was the image of Woods being facedown in the water.
First responders did chest compressions on Woods for five minutes and used the AED (Automated External Defibrillator) to shock her heart in order to get a pulse. Her nephew was in a better position but was still taken to Novant New Hanover Regional Medical Center and was admitted overnight for observation. Meanwhile, she had to be placed on a ventilator in the ICU.
"I was on a ventilator for at least a day," Woods told WECT. "I couldn't talk, but I could communicate by writing words to my wife. The doctor said I was able to breathe on my own when they took me off the ventilator. It was a miracle."
Hi everyone, this is Nicole’s wife, Denitra. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers as Nicole focuses on healing and recovery. A family friend has graciously organized a meal train for us. Thank you in advancehttps://t.co/4nh8dXFMNo With love & gratitude, Denitra https://t.co/gIgXOeXNIx pic.twitter.com/8Dpl3YrueY
— Nicole Woods (@_WoodsWay) May 26, 2026
Fortunately, Woods, who has been the head coach at UNCW for three years, did not suffer any cognitive impairment and should be able to make a full recovery. That being said, she will not be rushing back to work. UNCW's athletics department released a statement saying associate head coach Cherie Lea will be in charge of team operations while Woods continues to recover.
"Our thoughts are with Nicole and her family as she focuses on her recovery," read the statement published by local media. "Out of respect for her privacy, we will not have further comment at this time."
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