A man who was trapped in rocks with water up to his neck in Norfolk before being rescued had become stuck after saving his toddler from the sea.
The man, in his 20s, became stuck after rescuing one of his children near Sheringham’s east promenade, senior coastguard Tony Garbutt said.
He was freed in a dramatic rescue after spending nearly four hours in the sea.
Garbutt told BBC News the man had been leaving the beach with his family when one of his children slipped. As he stepped over to grab the child he then slipped and became stuck as water levels began rising.
The coastguard earlier described the incident as “a very frightening experience”.
Emergency responders were holding his head above the water, and he had been given a lifejacket and breathing apparatus.
A 999 call came in just after 5.30pm to the incident near the East Promenade, Sheringham, Norfolk.
The Coastguard tweeted: “The news we’ve been waiting for: Man trapped in rocks at #Sheringham has been rescued. #AllSafe Well done to everyone involved.”
Sam Stockdale, senior maritime operations officer from HM Coastguard, said: “It’s such good news that this man has been freed. We often talk about how training matters between the various frontline responders and today has shown just why it does. Everyone worked together on scene to look after the man and also to free him as soon as was practically possible.”
Retired coastguard station manager Stuart Facey told the North Norfolk News he had been walking his dog when the Coastguard arrived.
“I saw someone obviously stuck in the rocks, it was high tide and water was coming over him so it was a very scary situation,” he said.
“I’ve seen people climb into the cavities in the rocks and the problem is that even if you are able to move a rock to free someone who is stuck, another can fall into its place, it can be a life or death situation.”
Norfolk Police, Norfolk Fire and Rescue and the East of England Ambulance Service were also in attendance.