( CNN ) -- Kids dig in the sand at the beach all the time , but the fun nearly turned fatal for an 11-year-old Pennsylvania boy this week . The 11-year-old was given CPR and revived before being taken to a local hospital . The boy was digging a tunnel with friends on a beach in Ocean City , Maryland , on Tuesday when part of it collapsed on top of him , authorities said . Lifeguards rushed to pull him out , but it first appeared that they were too late . The boy was not breathing , and he had no pulse , Beach Patrol Capt . Butch Arbin told CNN on Wednesday . But rescue crews revived the boy by performing CPR , said Arbin , who was at the scene . There was a lot of emotion on the beach when the boy 's pulse came back , he said . `` He basically went from dead to life , '' Arbin said , adding that the boy 's mother called the rescue a `` miracle . '' As he was being rolled into an ambulance on a stretcher , the boy -- perhaps not realizing the trauma he had just survived -- complained to his mother that he had sand in his eyes , Arbin said . The child , whose family did not want to be identified , was initially taken to Atlantic General Hospital and later flown to the A.I . DuPont Hospital for Children in Delaware , he said . He 's recovering there and probably will be released later Wednesday , Arbin said .
Boy , 11 , was in a tunnel with water on a beach in Ocean City , Maryland . Lifeguards tried to help ; boy had no pulse and was n't breathing . Beach patrol captain : ` ` He basically went from dead to life '' is recovering in hospital , expected to be released later Wednesday .