A couple is “lucky to be alive” after terrifying pictures show them clinging onto a Yorkshire harbour by their fingernails when they were nearly pulled out to sea.
The sea at Staithes Harbour in Saltburn-by-the-Sea was “pretty rough” yesterday afternoon when a couple fishing were washed into the water.
A man standing on the shore was watching the big waves when an especially large one came over the harbour. He said the couple were gone in a “moment”.
“I noticed these two fishing on the top of the rocks. The next minute a big wave came over and I thought, they had been washed off,” he told YorkshireLive.
“They have disappeared. And I can see they have been washed off into the sea in the harbour.
“How they were knocked out I don’t know, they must have been thrown. They didn’t hit the rails. They ended up in the sea.”
Somehow, the pair were able to hold onto the harbour’s edge despite being bashed by incoming waves.
“I don’t know how they managed to get back to the harbour. And the girl is clinging on to the rails, and hanging on by her fingertips.
“The bloke had to hold onto her so he didn’t get washed off, and he has somehow pulled himself back and pulled back to the harbour.”
The witness warned of the dangers of being near the sea while the waves are so rough.
“You got to be careful,” he said. “The sea is not very forgiving. These two are lucky to be alive.
“It’s one of those things, if they had been thrown a few more feet they wouldn’t be here now cause the sea was really rough – it was the peak of high tide.”
According to the witness, the pair were taken to the RNLI station for treatment.
It comes as Storm Ciaran is expected to bring more flooding, downpours and 100mph winds to the UK this week.
The Met Office has issued 96-hours of weather warnings between Monday and Thursday, with 72 areas on high alert for floods.
