Dramatic rescue in middle of ocean sees injured man saved from tiny fishing boat

A man requiring urgent medical attention on a boat in the middle of the ocean has been saved in dramatic fashion by a helicopter rescuer battling ferocious winds.

In footage recorded from the helicopter, a rescuer can be seen swinging in the wind while attempting to land on a tiny fishing boat being battered by waves off the coast of Terceira, an island in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.

The rescuer makes one attempt to descend onto the ship's deck before he's hoisted back into the air when the situation makes landing too dangerous.

The injured man, who had been severely hurt in a fall, is eventually saved by the Portugese Armed Forces rescuer, who secures him to a stretcher.

The pair are both then airlifted to safety aboard the helicopter, where a medical team are waiting. The rescue occurred on Monday, February 25.

The Azores is autonomous Portuguese region made up of nine volcanic islands situated around 1,360 km west of Portugal.