Officer saves drowning man in 'pure chance' rescue

A police officer said it was "pure chance" he was in the right place at the right time to save the life of a young man drowning in the sea.

PC Tom Windeatt from Essex Police had been dealing with an arrest opposite Jubilee Beach in Southend-on-Sea when a teenager told him a friend was in trouble.

The officer ran to the water and performed CPR. "He was totally unresponsive. I thought he was dead, he's not coming back," he said. The man spent two days in intensive care after the incident in July but was expected to make a full recovery.

Ch Insp Jane Childs said: "PC Windeatt's actions were exceptional. He showed extraordinary professionalism, courage and compassion in challenging circumstances."

"I wasn't even meant to be there at the beach at that time. It was amazing, pure chance," Windeatt said.

"He had his mates screaming around him. There was a lot of panic around us, so I had to get everyone to be quiet while I was working out whether he was breathing or not.

"I quickly realised that he wasn't, so started CPR. I'd been doing it for around two minutes and then, all of a sudden, he started to cough up water, we got a light pulse and then he started breathing."

The officer said the incident highlighted the importance of telling someone if you are going into the water, even if you are a strong swimmer, and to not go out of your depth.

"If you get into difficulty, float to live," he added. "Tilt your head back, try to relax, and use your arms and legs to stay afloat."

Essex Police said the young man and his family were still "very shaken by the incident", which happened in the last week of July, and did not wish to be named.

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