FOUR PEOPLE are considering themselves lucky to be alive after being rescued from the sea off the coast of North Yorkshire thanks to a human chain.
The incident began when a man slipped off the seafront walk in Redcar and was submerged in waves just after 4 pm on Good Friday.
According to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), another man tried to pull him out, only to get stuck himself.
A man recently fell from the promenade at Redcar into the water. Passers-by naturally rushed to help. However, they too found themselves in difficulty. All escaped with their lives. If you see someone else in trouble in the water, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard. pic.twitter.com/FLpc4GJYYj
— RNLI (@RNLI) April 4, 2018
This was followed by two passers-by attempting to help the pair which resulted in all four struggling to drag themselves up the soaking, slanted wall.
One member of the public grabbed a life-ring attached to a rope and threw it towards the group.
This moment of quick-thinking, coupled with the formation of a human chain by passers-by resulted in the rescue of all four people.
Dave Cocks, a local operations manager at the RNLI said: “It is only through good fortune that all four were rescued alive.”
He added that one person dies from drowning each day in the UK and Ireland.
All four were taken to hospital and treated for the effects of cold water immersion.
