LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Monday, former Razorbacks running back Peyton Hillis joined the list to speak this fall at the Little Rock Touchdown Club.

The Conway native and Madden NFL cover athlete made national headlines in January when he saved his son and niece from drowning in a Florida riptide. In his second time speaking on the subject since the accident, an emotional Hillis opened up at the weekly gathering in downtown Little Rock. He’d walk through each step of the events of January 4 and what transpired afterwards.

All of Hillis, his son Orry, and his niece Camille have made full recoveries since nearly losing their lives that day in Pensacola. While the event is remembered as a nightmare, the seven-year NFL pro says that it is also remembered as a miracle and that it changed his life forever.

FOX16’s Nick Walters was at the Little Rock Touchdown Club for Hillis’ visit. See our extended story to hear the Razorback great recount his memories of the accident and his recovery in the hospital.