Passerby on moment Bridlington heroes rescued girl from sea

A man has told of the dramatic moment he and other passers-by saved a teenage girl from drowning in heavy seas off the Yorkshire coast.

Mobile phone footage captured the group using a life ring to pull the girl to safety off Bridlington's south pier on Sunday.

Jerome Remblance, whose family run amusement arcades in the resort, had been walking along the seafront when he heard "screaming and a lot of panic".

Recalling the events for BBC Look North, Mr Remblance said: "I knew something was wrong.

"A young girl was in the water about 30 to 40ft (12m) out, and I just saw her head going. I immediately told her to stay calm and not panic."

The group threw in a life ring and the stricken girl was able to swim and grab hold of it, said Mr Remblance.

One of the rescuers, a man known only as Pavel, entered the water, putting himself in peril, to ensure the youngster got to shore safely, said Mr Remblance.

"Pavel was a real hero," he said.

The girl escaped her ordeal with only a minor cut.

"She looked relieved," said Mr Remblance. "Relief that you're safe comes down on you very quickly. She will have been tired. She had been paddling and swimming really, really hard."

Describing the sea state that day, he said: "It was really rough. One minute it can be nice and the next it [the sea] is really crashing against the wall."

It is not known how the girl had ended up in the water.

Fran Wilkins, senior coastal operations officer at HM Coastguard, said: "Our first rule is never to go in the water after someone and to always call 999 and ask for the coastguard - don't add to the danger.

"But if it's a matter of life or death, staying safely on shore and using a life ring is a sensible thing to do."

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