'I thought I'd seen my last Christmas' - Paraglider thanks Sussex lifeboat crews who saved his life

Rachel Hepworth reports from Newhaven on the dramatic rescue.


Dermot Ryan was moments away from the unthinkable on Christmas Eve last year, when he found himself in the sea, losing consciousness, his body temperature plummeting to 29 degrees, and waves crashing over him after being cut off by the tide.

He was one of two paragliders stranded on a beach at the foot of cliffs, with no means of escape from the rising tide.

He was able to use his phone to call for help but was soon immersed in the icy December water, being thrown around by the waves, inhaling the cold water as he floated on his back, in the hope someone was on their way to rescue him.

Dermot Ryan describes how he thought his time had come as he succumbed to hypothermia in the icy water.


"I thought- I'm going to drown within seconds if I don't do something so I turned on my back and did the starfish like the RNLI say," he told ITV Meridian.

"I remember looking up at the sky and thinking this could be the last time I see it an I thought- just shout and scream, shout and scream."

RNLI volunteers from Newhaven had responded to their pager, leaving their loved ones, to answer Dermot’s call for help.

They launched the lifeboat and upon arrival, spotted Dermot from a distance floating motionless in the water appearing to be face down.

The crew feared it was too late to save him.

Dermot is pulled from the icy waters of the Channel Credit: RNLI Newhaven

As they got closer, to their relief he was facing up and still alive. The lifeboat crew managed to navigate the crashing waves to get near enough to grab hold of Dermot and pull him onboard and take him to the safety of the lifeboat station.

"The guys were in a very risky position," said Lewis Arnold, coxswain at Newhaven RNLI.

"They were at the base of a cliff with no phone signal and a rising tide which is nowhere anyone wants to be.

"These guys were very lucky that day- we were able to bring them home safely so they could have Christmas with their families because another 20 minutes it would have been a very different story."

Coxswain Lewis Arnold describes how fortunate the paragliders were to survive their ordeal.


"There’s no feeling quite like bringing someone home safe to their families – especially at Christmas. As lifeboat crew we couldn’t have saved Dermot’s life that day without kind donations from the public which fund the kit, training and equipment we need to save others and get home safely to our families."

Over the past decade, RNLI lifeboats have launched over 1,200 times during the festive period, saving many lives, all thanks to the charity's generous supporters.

They've launched their Christmas appeal, as the charity asks for help to continue its lifesaving work at sea. 

"They were getting ready to wrap presents," says Dermot. "Getting ready for Christmas dinner- they just dropped everything because somebody needed help.

"Thank God those guys were there. If they hadn't gotten to me in a couple of minutes I wouldn't be here talking to you. They're heroes- absolute heroes"