Watch as girl swept out to sea by large wave in England and dramatic rescue that followed
The video shows the girl standing on a slipway at the pier during high tide when the wave crashes on top of her. Her desperate attempt to grab hold of the railing is also caught on camera before she loses her grip and falls into the water.
Watch: Video captures moment large wave sweeps child out to sea in England
A dramatic video recorded in England shows a large wave sweeping a child out to sea, and then a group of people working together to make a dramatic rescue.
NORTH DEVON, England – A potentially deadly situation was averted in England thanks to the quick thinking of a group of people after a large wave knocked a girl off her feet and swept her out to sea, and the entire incident was caught on video.
According to the North Devon Council, a group of four children was playing near a pier at Ilfracombe Harbor on Aug. 3 when a large wave knocked a girl off her feet, swept her between the railings, and pulled her out to sea.
Dramatic video shows a large wave sweeping a girl out to sea in England and the dramatic rescue that followed.
(@ndevoncouncil/X)
The video showed the girl standing on a slipway at the pier during high tide when the wave crashed on top of her. She disappeared and reemerged moments later, and you can see her desperate attempt to grab hold of the railing before she lost her grip and fell into the water. The dangerous current then pulled her farther away from the pier.
The video then showed a group of people nearby spring into action – with one person grabbing a life preserver and tossing it to the girl while another person was able to get a grip on her before she was swept farther out to sea.
North Devon officials are now warning people to respect the powers of the sea after the frightening ordeal.
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FILE - Ilfracombe Harbour and former St Nicholas' Chapel now Lighthouse, Devon, 2016. Artist Damian Grady.
(Historic England Archive/Heritage Images / Getty Images)
"This incident is a serious reminder of the dangers of tombstoning and other high-risk activities in the harbor," Harbourmaster Georgina Carlo-Paat said in a news release. "Not only were the youths lucky not to be more seriously injured, they put their lives in danger as well as those quick-thinking bystanders who acted when they got into trouble."
"Tombstoning" is the activity of jumping into the water from a cliff or high point.
Carlo-Paat said sea conditions were volatile, and the group of youths had already been knocked off their feet by large waves before the video was recorded.
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"Thankfully, RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) were on exercise in the outer harbor at the time and were able to respond very quickly and tended to their injuries before escorting them all home," Carlo-Paat said.
Officials said that a bylaw exists that prohibits jumping, diving into and swimming in the harbor without permission from the harbormaster. According to North Devon officials, the penalty for jumping off the harbor can be a £1,000 fine upon prosecution.