A MAN was plucked to safety by a lifeboatman seconds after he disappeared under the waves in a dramatic rescue off East Yorkshire's coast. RNLI volunteer Peter Jones told how he grabbed the hand of the drowning man by guessing where he would be.
Peter was part of a three-man Bridlington crew that rushed out to rescue the man on Monday evening.
The team, which was called out at 11.30pm, saw a hand reaching out above the water as they search for the 20-year-old man in the darkness 50m offshore.
Mr Jones said: "As we searched the sea, our spotlight picked up the man's hand.
"He was about 20 or 30m away and by the time we got to him, he had gone under water.
"I put my hand in the water, about where I thought he was, and managed to grab hold of him.
"I wouldn't have been able to keep hold of him and stay in the boat, as it was impossible to hold his weight, which was underwater, so I kept hold of him and fell out of the boat.
"If I hadn't kept hold of him, we might have missed him. I don't know if he had much longer left in him."
The man, who is believed to have been drinking before entering the water, was rescued from the northern side of Bridlington's harbour.
Chris Brompton, helmsman during the rescue, said: "The man was a lot further out than we had anticipated after receiving the call.
"He was spotted by a member of the public entering the water.
"We were about to get to him when a wave broke over us and him and we lost sight.
"The man was out of his depth and if Pete had let go, we may never have found him again, as it was pitch black and there were heavy breaking seas."
The pair, who were also joined by Jamie McHale on the boat, rushed the man to the shore where they administered first aid.
Waiting to help onshore was the coastguard and police and later the ambulance service.
"He was confused to start with when we got him to the shore and was trying to be sick to bring up the water he had swallowed," said Mr Brompton.
"He was suffering from exhaustion and cold.
"The man is very lucky. If we hadn't found him at the first attempt or had not seen him, the conditions would have made it very hard to find him.
"Even in a lifejacket, the survival time in the water is about 40 minutes.
"This guy had jeans and a T-shirt on and had no energy. You're looking at 15 to 20 minutes' survival time."
It was the second major rescue in two days for the RNLI team in Bridlington.
Last Sunday, along with lifeguards, the coastguard, paramedics and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, the lifeboat crew came to the rescue of a kitesurfer who was caught by a gust of wind and catapulted 20ft in the air as he headed towards the shore.
Lee Morritt suffered multiple injuries, including a dislocated knee and a fractured wrist, after he crashed to the ground while kitesurfing off the East Yorkshire coast near Bridlington.
Ade Trower, one of the inshore lifeboat crew, said: "We had to move quickly as the tide was coming in fast.
"As soon as we had got him on the spinal board, the water was washing up to him.
"We all worked together and it was brilliant communication between all the organisations."
