TIDAL FIGHT: Heidi Klum leaps into action on a Hawaiian beach, dragging one of her two nannies to safety and dashing for help as the two caregivers lie gasping and exhausted (inset) — all after she braved the current herself to keep her son Henry from being swept away (above).
Supermodel Heidi Klum sprang into action like a superhero on a Hawaiian beach, helping save the lives of her 7-year-old son and his nannies after they were swept out to sea.
A photographer captured these dramatic pictures of the rescue, in which Klum and her boyfriend, Martin Kristen, battled a powerful riptide that had sucked the youngster and his caretakers into the churning Pacific off Oahu.
“Like any mother, I was very scared for my child and everyone else in the water,” the “Project Runway” host said yesterday.
The group had been enjoying a peaceful holiday celebration on the tropical beach. Klum had even tweeted pictures of brightly colored Easter eggs placed along the rocky shoreline.
Her son Henry — whose father is R&B singer Seal, Heidi’s ex-husband — was taking a dip in the water with his nannies when the riptide stuck.
Klum was terrified as the trio was pulled farther and farther from shore. But she didn’t panic.
She was spotted by onlookers racing into the water, where she grabbed Henry and pulled him to shore. At the same time, her boyfriend, who is a bodyguard, grabbed one of the nannies.
As he pulled the woman ashore, the supermodel got back into the water and dragged the second nanny to safety.
Klum was completely focused during the rescue and didn’t even notice her skimpy bikini top coming off as she frantically helped recover her son and nannies.
After the harrowing ordeal, Klum, 39, tried to downplay the danger, saying Henry had mostly helped himself back to shore.
“Thankfully, Henry is a strong swimmer and was able to swim back to land and we were able to get everyone out safely,” she said.
After the rescue, both of the child-care providers could be seen prone on the white sands, gasping for breath.
Klum and other family members grabbed towels and water for everyone once they were safely on the sand.
Also vacationing with Klum on the island were her other kids — Leni, 8, Johan, 6, and Lou, 3.
Klum is an avid swimmer.
In 2003, she jumped into the water to swim with sharks for a show on the Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week.”
She is the star of a national ad campaign for the Carl’s Jr. fast-food chain in which she strikes a sexy pose in tribute to Anne Bancroft in “The Graduate.”
In addition to hosting Lifetime’s “Project Runway,” Klum is set to expand her ever-widening empire with a gig on the NBC show “America’s Got Talent.”
NBC announced this month that she will join the judges’ panel to replace Sharon Osbourne.