Kart Meyrick was fishing from the end of Porthcawl Pier on 2 February 2002 when a giant wave swept him off the pier and into the sea below. There had been a severe gale blowing for the past 24 hours and enormous waves were completely enveloping the pier.

Porthcawl lifeboat helmsman Nick Beale remembers: 'I came down first thing in the morning to check my boat. Conditions were quite horrendous at the time. I went into the office and was chatting to Les, the harbour master, when we heard an almighty crash. I looked out of the window and the fisherman had gone. Then a lady burst into the office to say he'd been washed off the end of the pier.' Nick ran over to the lifeboat house and explained to Phil Missen, the honorary secretary, what had happened.

At this time Karl was still visible, waving for help.

The wind was southerly Gale Force 8 to Severe Gale Force 9 with gusts up to Storm Force 10, causing very rough seas. Phil authorised the launch of the lifeboat with very clear instructions to Nick to stay within the relatively sheltered waters behind the pier. At 9.32am the Atlantic 75 lifeboat Giles launched with Nick at the helm and crew members Rick Rava and Stephen Knipe.

Nick says: 'At this time we'd lost sight of him so we made our way to where I thought he was, in the lee of the pier. Then we saw debris in the water, which was his waders and a tackle box, so we started a sweep of the bay when we had radio contact with the boathouse to say that they'd spotted something outside the pier.' Karl had been drifting into Sandy Bay, to the east of Porthcawl harbour, pushed by the wind, heavy seas and tide. The waves here were up to 4m high.

Nevertheless, Nick was determined to save the man and decided to move out beyond the pier.

'We could see what I thought was a bobble hat about 200m south of us,' he says. 'Rick went to pick it up and when he grabbed hold of it, it was actually the person we were looking for. His suit was full of water and we had quite a job of it getting him in. We brought him beside the boat, waited for two big waves then Rick and Steve managed to hold onto him, we pulled him in and made our way back to the boathouse.' Steve remembers: 'When we actually found him, he was totally lifeless. Rick grabbed his top half, I grabbed his legs and we brought him into the boat.

He was very pale, his eyes were gone and basically there was no life in him at all.' Stephen and Rick kept hold of the casualty in the lifeboat but it was impossible for them to do anything else in the violent conditions. Meanwhile,Nick turned the boat around and headed for the relative shelter of the pier. 'When we got him on board, he was very pale, no colour in him, no sign of any life,' says Nick. 'We just turned back and headed back to the boathouse. Conditions out there were really bad and the best thing was to get him back to the boathouse and take it from there.' They quickly brought Karl ashore and took him into the boathouse for shelter. Stephen Williams and Ian Stroud gave him oxygen and CPR until an ambulance arrived. The ambulance crew worked for 30 minutes until they found a weak pulse and then took him to the Prince of Wales hospital in Bridgend. He was seriously ill from his ordeal and spent some considerable time in hospital but is now on the road to recovery.

Kathryn Meyrick, Karl's wife, says: 'If it wasn't for the crew, Karl wouldn't be here now. They didn't have to risk their lives to save Karl. It was a really bad day, that's all I knew, so I just want to say thanks, a really big thank you. That's from everybody, family and friends and everybody, just thanks. Karl's walking now and he's eating. He's not talking very much but he's whispering and he is getting louder. He is getting on quite well, considering, thank God.' There had been some concern that there may be another man in the sea. The Mumbles Tyne class lifeboat Ethel Anne Measures was launched together with a helicopter from RAF Chivenor. The Porthcawl lifeboat was also relaunched with new crew: helmsman Stephen Jones and crew members Carl Evans and Steven Childs. Despite a comprehensive search nothing was found.

Nick Beale received the Bronze Medal for his outstanding boat handling, seamanship and courage in atrocious weather.

Rick Rava and Steve Knipe received the Thanks of the Institution on Vellum. Helmsman Stephen Jones received a Chairman's Letter of Thanks, crew members Carl Evans and Steven Childs received Chief Executive's Letters of Thanks, and station honorary secretary Philip Missen and crew members Ian Stroud and Stephen Williams received Operations Director's Letters of Thanks.

'We're really chuffed,' says Steve. 'Couldn't have asked for more really. Nick doesn't expect anything. We just did our job, that we enjoy doing and we're just really pleased.'.