Gregory Robinson
The terrifying moment a young girl was swept into the sea was captured on video.
The clip shows the child playing on the pier in Ilfracombe, Devon, as waves crashed against a ramp close to where she was playing with her friends.
However, the situation took a turn for the worse when the wave knocked the little girl off her feet. She was sent through the railings and down the side of the wall at around 7pm on Thursday (3 August) during high tide.
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Thankfully, a quick-thinking member of the public witnessed the incident and rushed to grab a lifebuoy, as another onlooker managed to catch the child before she was swept further out to the sea.
Ilfracombe RNLI were called to the scene and provided casualty care to two children before transporting them home after tragedy almost struck.
Safety warnings have now been issued about the dangers of playing near the sea after the shocking incident last week.
“This incident is a serious reminder of the dangers of tombstoning and other high-risk activities in the harbour,” said Ilfracombe boss, Georgina Carlo-Paat.
"Not only were the youths lucky not to be more seriously injured, they put their lives in danger as well as those of quick-thinking bystanders who acted when they got into trouble.
“The sea conditions were very volatile and all of the youths had been knocked off their feet on the slipway prior to the incident, but still continued to run into surging waves.
"Thankfully the RNLI were on exercise in the outer harbour at the time and were able to respond very quickly and tended to their injuries before escorting them all home.”
Conditions were harsh on the North Devon coast last week with cars parked close to the beach damaged by the weather situation.
A number of cars were damaged and one van had dents on its side and a missing bumper, while another car vehicle was left with a smashed windscreen because of the massive waves, DevonLive reports.
People were also reportedly knocked over by the waves.
On Saturday (5 August), a yellow wind warning was put in place in the South West of the country and an amber wind warning for parts of Devon as Storm Antoni unleashed strong winds over the weekend.
Drivers were urged by the RAC to ‘slow down significantly to stay safe’ and to ‘avoid exposed moorland and coastal routes until the storm passes’.
Motorists were also warned to look out for fallen trees and to be prepared for disruption.