A BOSCOMBE resident has shared his harrowing near-death experience which left him in a coma for two days and needing CPR on the beach.
Boscombe resident Damien Adaway, 34, had to be resuscitated by Boscombe Pier after he swam 50 metres out to sea and became stuck in a riptide.
Damien only remembers waking up in hospital after he came out of a coma following the incident, that happened on June 29 at around 6pm.
He said: "We were sat on the beach relaxing and I just got really hot and I just decided to go for a swim next to the pier.
"I swum out and then as I started to come back in, it felt like something was tugging at my legs. The riptide was pulling me under and then the waves were going over my head.
"The last thing I remember is a wave going over my head and I think I started choking because of the water."
His friend and neighbour Modestas Gricius, 43, known as Mo, jumped into the water and pulled him back to shore.
Dorset Police, HM Coastguard, and South Western Ambulance Service all responded to the event in which Damien required CPR and defibrillation to bring him back to life.
Damien said: "When Mo pulled me out of the ocean, he was so exhausted, he couldn't perform CPR. By an act of God, there were people on the beach ready to perform it.
"I was so lucky that an ambulance car was parked on the roundabout. They defibrillated me on the beach and all the [bystanders] put towels around me so others couldn't see."
Rushed to a critical care unit, Damien woke up two days later surrounded by family and has since had to patch together the events.
Despite a sore chest from the CPR, his return to health has been 'miraculous' and now wishes to warn others of the dangers of the sea.
He said: "I was dead on my face in the water. It still hasn't sunk in and I'm still traumatised by it.
"I'm so thankful to those who helped me and to bring massive awareness of how dangerous the sea is."
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