'They absolutely saved my life': Royal Marine thanks teens who rescued him from water off Kent

ITV Meridian's Abigail Bracken reports.

A former Royal Marine has been reunited with three teenagers who saved his life, after he got into difficulty off the coast of Minster on Sea.

Wayne Sullivan had been out swimming, when he experienced a cramp down one leg, causing him to take on water.

He was seen lying face down in the water by teens Max, Ella and Jersie, who sprung into action and rescued the commando from the sea.

Their quick actions have been credited with saving his life, as Wayne was told by medics he was just minutes from death.

Wayne Sullivan has survived three war zones and told ITV Meridian the incident was the closest he has ever come to death.

Speaking to ITV Meridian, Wayne praised Max, Ella and Jersie's actions. He said: "I would have died. I was told I would have died within a minute. Another minute, another minute I was face down in the water...

"I would absolutely have drowned, and I wouldn't be here now. They absolutely saved my life. I've shed many a tear. They're magnificent youngsters."

Max, Ella and Jersie were close to the shore paddling, when they saw Wayne in distress and immediately knew something was wrong.

Max and Ella swam out to the marine, whilst Jersie called an ambulance.

The pair managed to turn him over so he was able to breathe and then dragged him back to shore.

Paramedics then arrived and gave Wayne urgent care before he was rushed to hospital and spent days in intensive care.

Max, Ella and Jersie told ITV Meridian about how they saved Wayne's life.

Speaking about the rescue, the teenagers said they had to act, saying they just knew he needed help.

"We was paddling in the water", Max told ITV Meridian. "And we saw the man struggling behind us in the water. So we thought something's definitely wrong.

"Adrenaline kind of took over. It was more like just save him. Wasn't much on my mind. It's just he needed help so we had to help him."

Ella said the rescue was difficult, but her and Max persevered. She said: "It was hard because he'd gone really weak, like from where he'd swallowed loads of water."

Jersie, who had been calling the ambulance service whilst Max and Ella were bringing Wayne to shore, told ITV that nobody else on the beach offered to help.

Other bystanders, she said, were filming the rescue and taking pictures.

"Most people were just standing watching, taking videos and photos and stuff. No one was really helping us." Jersie said.

Paramedics have since praised the action of the teenagers, and said if they weren't there the outcome for Wayne could have been very different.

Wayne is continuing to recover from the incident, but says he will keep in touch with Max, Ella and Jersie for the rest of his life.

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