See a Bodyboarder's Dramatic Rescue of a Surfer Knocked Down by Massive Wave

— -- A bodyboarder came to a surfer’s rescue after the surfer was knocked unconscious by a massive wave, and the dramatic rescue was caught on video.

Andre Botha, a South African professional bodyboarder, had just caught a wave on Sunday and was making his way back to the lineup at the Pipeline, a popular surfing spot on Oahu’s North Shore, when he noticed professional surfer Evan Geiselman get knocked down by a wave, Botha told ABC News today.

“In my mind I was thinking he was going to come up so I just kept watching, and then I started realizing, OK, he’s not coming up,” Botha said. “It clicked at some point that it was time for me to go to his aid.”

The area that the surfer from New Smyrna Beach, Florida, wiped out in had dangerous waves and a strong current, Botha said, and once he was able to reach the surfer, Geiselman’s surfboard was floating and he was underwater.

“I managed to grab him and pull him up. At that point I got hit by a wave and I actually lost him there for a little bit,” Botha said, adding that he was able to move Geiselman to an area with a weaker current. “His face was dark blue, he was foaming at the mouth, his eyes were rolled back. I thought he was dead.”

Botha performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while waves continued to crash down on him and Geiselman until lifeguards arrived, he said. Lifeguards pulled Geiselman to shore, where they performed CPR until he was transported to a hospital, he added.

Botha has since talked to the surfer’s girlfriend and mom, he said, and was told that Geiselman is doing well and was released from the hospital Tuesday.

“I did run into a friend of his, a professional surfer from Australia,” Botha said. “He was at the hospital and he said the doctors and paramedics said how lucky [Geiselman] was because so many things weren’t in his favor.”

He added: “I was just thinking about the whole thing and the doctors saving peoples’ lives every day and I want to say thank you to them, because in my mind, I just did what I felt I had to do.”

Geiselman expressed his gratitude to everyone involved in an Instagram post on Tuesday, writing, "Beyond grateful! It was the most fulfilling feeling being able to watch the sunset tonight. I got let out of the hospital today and have just been so freaked out on how much of a miracle this has been!"