Brighton pier worker dives into sea to save drowning man

A Palace Pier employee jumped into the sea in Brighton to rescue a drowning man at the weekend.

Matthew Seekings, 22, made the leap between 6pm and 6.30pm on Saturday (14 September) after a 43-year-old man ended up unconscious in the water.

Sussex Police said that someone dialled 999 at 6.20pm on Saturday to say that a man had fallen into the water off the pier.

The force said that Mr Seekings jumped in and held him afloat until the RNLI Brighton lifeboat arrived.

The unconscious man was then taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in a serious condition.

Solent Coastguard and the police are not treating the incident as suspicious.

The RNLI said that its Brighton crew was asked to help an unconscious casualty in the water by the Palace Pier.

The lifeboat was launched at 6.35pm – about 20 minutes after sunset. The RNLI added: “On arrival on scene, a male was face down in the water, unconscious and being assisted by members of the public.

“The crew recovered the casualty on to the lifeboat (and) immediately began CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation, also known as heart lung resuscitation) and administered emergency care.

“As the ambulance crew were on land close to the Palace Pier, the helmsman of the lifeboat made the decision to land the casualty on the beach rather than transport him back to the lifeboat station.

“The lifeboat crew continued with CPR until the casualty was safely handed over to the further care of South East Coast Ambulance Service.”

The whole rescue took about half an hour in a calm sea with good visibility.