It was hope in the form of a 12-year-old boy that saved Vincent Shao from sinking beneath the waves and drowning at Waihi Beach on Saturday.

"I thought I was going to die," the 32-year-old Auckland resident said after he lost his footing in waist-deep water while checking crab pots.

Although he was a good swimmer, Shao succumbed to a rip current as he tried swimming against the tide toward shore.

(READ the story, w/ photos, from New Zealand News)