PENSACOLA, Fla.—A former NFL running back said he’s on the road to recovery after he nearly died while saving his two children from drowning in the Gulf of Mexico in the Florida Panhandle.
Peyton Hillis issued a statement on Twitter, thanking those who helped him following the Jan. 4 incident on Pensacola Beach. He was initially on a ventilator, but was released from the hospital in mid-January.
“I just wanted to come on here and thank everyone for all the prayers and love y’all have given me,” Hillis wrote. “It’s really made all the difference.”
Hillis, 37, said he hasn’t done any interviews because it was a “very traumatic time” and he wanted to keep his family out of the public eye….