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Home Canterbury News Article
A man left close to death after leaping from the Herne Bay pier into the sea may have been saved by the eight beers he drank before jumping.
He and a pal stripped to their underwear and plunged into the cold water after a drinking session.
But the foolish pair had to be rescued by emergency crews after struggling for 45 minutes to get ashore.
One of the men was pulled to safety with a life ring by police, while the other, who had lost consciousness, was dragged in by coastguard deputy station manager Matt Stickels.
He says the hapless duo are lucky to be alive.
He said: “They were so cold and had been in the water for about 45 minutes.
“If someone hadn’t thrown in the life rings, then in my experience it would’ve ended in a fatality.
“I went in to get the second man because I didn’t know how long it would take for the lifeboat to arrive. He had had eight cans of beer.
“The paramedics said that it probably kept him alive, because his body had slowed down so much that it might have helped him.
“He was in an unconscious state. The ambulance team had to be careful and keep him horizontal because he was prone to a heart attack.
“We want to get across the important warning – don’t go swimming if you have been drinking.”
Housewife Michelle Cooper, 30, of Richmond Street, Herne Bay, watched the drama unfold with her partner Glen Knight, 24.
She said: “One man was swimming in the water. The other couldn’t swim and just grabbed hold of the pier leg and wouldn’t move.
“Onlookers asked him if he was OK and if he could swim. He said ‘no’, so they threw the life ring into the water.
“He grabbed it and was being pulled along round the pier, but then he couldn’t swim any more and grabbed the pier leg again.
“Police and lifeguards were called and the first man got out of the water. He was probably turning hypothermic and was very, very cold.
“We want to get across the important warning – don’t go swimming if you have been drinking” - Matt Stickels
“My partner gave the man his jumper, but the second man was still attached to the pier.
“When the second man came ashore he couldn’t move, he was lying on the beach. The police had called for an ambulance and they had put silver blankets over him.
“It was very, very silly, but hopefully it will show young boys that something dramatic can happen when you jump off the pier.
“Both were grown men who should have known better than to do things like that.”
The men were treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to the QEQM Hospital in Margate with what were described as “non-life threatening injuries”.
