Model 'lucky to be alive' after getting swept away while doing a ocean-side photoshoot

A model's photoshoot couldn't have gone more wrong in the US after she was hit by a wave.

The woman was standing on rock next to the ocean posing in a beautiful blue dress in Palos Verdes, California.

The sun was shining, the water was glistening and everyone looked like they were having a great day.

However, nature is an unpredictable beast and the model got hit by a wave and was swept out to sea.

Okay, the only way it could've been worse was if there were sharks present.

The unexpected wave initially knocked her balance and when the water receded, it took her with it.

Shayla Welch captured the horrifying moment on camera and she said it all happened so fast.

"Everything was going great," she recalled.

"We were at the end of the photoshoot when Kate decided to take some aesthetic photos closer to the water.

"Up to this point, there were no big sets, the water was calm! She crawled down and right away a big wave comes behind her, sweeps her in.. luckily it pushed her directly into the cave.

"We didn’t see or hear from Kate for several minutes and thought she had got her dress stuck or pushed out to shore.

"I stopped filming at this point and people had told me to get back and not jump in.

"Cops were called. A helicopter came.

"Kate crawled her way out of the cave totally unharmed. Minor scratches.

"Scary but a great lesson was learned that day!!"

You can say that again.

People couldn't believe how lucky the model was to escape with only minor injuries.

There was a risk that her dress could have become caught on the rocks and she could have drowned.

One viewer said: "The photographer shouldn’t have put her in that position to begin with. This makes me so frustrated to watch."

Another added: "That is one of the worst places you could take pictures."

A third wrote: "She’s so lucky to be alive that’s scary."