Boy, 8, who was rescued after floating out to sea on inflatable unicorn says he 'thought he might die'

An eight-year-old boy has told of how he was “thinking he might die” as he floated out to sea on an inflatable unicorn.

Declan O’Connor became caught in a rip at Oak Island beach in North Carolina on Tuesday .

His uncle tried to swim out to him but the boy was eventually brought back to shore by rescue volunteers.

Declan told ABC 11 News: "I was really scared and thinking like I might die and all that stuff."

In a video of the rescue, Declan can be seen on the inflatable unicorn beyond where the waves are forming.

The team reaches Declan on a raft and returns him to his parents on the beach.

In a frantic 911 call, his mother told the operator: "He doesn't have a life jacket on! He doesn't, he doesn't really know how to swim."

In a post on Facebook, his rescuers warned of the dangers of the popular inflatables.

“Today, just like that day, we have a wind out of the North, coming off the beach and toward open water. Keep those large animal rafts at home and off the beach,” they said.

Declan told ABC 11: “Now I know to never go out in a raft ever again in the ocean.”