A surfer has warned young people about the potential dangers of sea-swimming after rescuing a young girl from the water at Ballygally beach near Larne.
The 14-year-old had gotten into difficulty and was stranded about 500 feet from the shore when her friends alerted two surfers at around 4pm on Saturday.
One of the men was able to paddle out to the girl and pull her onto his board before getting her back to the safety of the beach.
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The man didn't wish to be named but said that he simply wanted to get a message out about making sure to take precautions for those going into the water.
"In my 20 years of surfing, I've been in a couple of situations but that was by far the worst, I don't think she had much longer," the man said.
"I'd be very comfortable in the water due to my experience and I've been involved in two other rescues, but she was about 500 feet out from the shore.
"We were in the water and couple of wee girls came over and said there's a girl out there who's starting to panic and she can't get back in.
"So I had a look and I couldn't really see anything bar a speck in the distance and I wasn't sure if it was even her, I thought it might have been one of the deep water swimmers or something.
"But they were too far out for that and I paddled out to her and as I got out there I could see it was just a wee girl, she was in a t-shirt and shorts, she didn't even have a wetsuit so she must have been cold as well."
He said that if it hadn't been for the fact that he had brought his surfboard, it could have been a very different and tragic outcome.
"I got her up on the board and she lay on top of it for a while and we had a chat and then I started the paddle back in, it took about 10 minutes to get back in against the current," he said.
"She just said 'thanks so much' and she just ran off to her friends when she got in, I was trying to see if I could get her to her parents or whatever.
"I just wanted to get it out there that people need to be careful in the water, because if I wasn't there or if I didn't have the surfboard with me, I don't think I could have swam out and brought her back.
"I'm a good swimmer but I don't think I'd have been able to get there and back with her.
"One minute you're standing in about four feet and very swiftly you mightn't be able to see the beach."
The man added that the best way to look after yourself in the water was not to venture in too deep and to always have someone with you in case things did go wrong.
"I don't even know if that was her friends that alerted us, she just ran off as soon as we got to the beach and I'm not sure she maybe realised how much danger she had been in," he said.
"I think a lot of people think they can go into the water and mess about but it can change so quickly.
"Certainly people can enjoy themselves in the water, but just have someone with you that can keep an eye on things too
"Hopefully it puts out a bit of awareness, even just to bring a life jacket - treading water for any length of time can tire you out very quickly."
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