On an apparently ordinary day at the beach last Summer, a near tragedy was unfolding

It was just before midday on 30 August 2011 and a lone kayaker was enjoying the water off Sandsend, near Whitby, North Yorkshire. The weather was overcast and the surf had been building, reaching 3–4m in height. Meanwhile a powerful rip current was running along the beach and out to sea, creating an undertow.

As the conditions worsened and now in dumping waves, Mike struggled to keep afloat. His kayak was being tossed around like an empty plastic bottle. Onlookers worried for his safety rang 999. Back on the beach, the kayaker's wife was becoming increasingly concerned, sensing that her partner was in trouble.

At 12.18pm the Coastguard requested the launch of the Whitby inshore lifeboat, with the Whitby RNLI lifeguards alerted a few minutes later. The incident was over 2.5 miles from the lifeboat station and 1.5 miles from the lifeguard unit.

As soon as he heard of Mike's plight, Lifeguard Calum Norman closed the patrol zone at Whitby, leaving two lifeguards in place in case of other incidents. Then Lifeguard Daniel Wordsworth collected Calum and Lifeguard Supervisor Pat Messruther in the patrol vehicle and quickly drove them all along the beach towards Sandsend. When they arrived, Calum took charge of communications with the Coastguard and Whitby Lifeguard Unit, while Pat, with no hesitation, grabbed a rescue board, entering the water in just his shorts. There was no time to don a wetsuit – he could see that things were becoming critical for Mike.

Pat bravely fought his way through increasingly large waves to the kayaker, 100m from the shore. Although he was wearing a wetsuit and buoyancy aid, Mike had struggled to keep his head above water. He was now unresponsive, barely conscious and had taken in a lot of water. As he was also tall and of large build, he posed a significant challenge for just one man to handle.

Pat got off his board and grappled with Mike while 2–3m waves broke over them. The sea was very rough, the man was facing the wrong way and unable to respond. Using all of his strength and skills, somehow Pat managed to turn him, got him onto the board and was finally able to climb up himself and paddle shorewards.

At 12.31pm the lifeboat arrived. Because of the conditions, it took three attempts for her crew to get close enough to recover Mike, but eventually they were successful. Pat paddled speedily back to shore while the lifeboat crew beached the boat. Once back on land, Pat took charge of the lifeguard team once again. They checked the man’s condition and gave him oxygen. The casualty was then transferred to the lifeguard patrol vehicle and sped to the slipway, where he was handed over to paramedics.

Rescue over, an exhausted Pat and the other lifeguards returned to their area and resumed normal patrols. The inshore lifeboat crew relaunched from the beach and conditions were still bad. Hitting several large swells, they almost capsized and one of the crew was thrown to the stern. They still managed to motor back to their station, thankfully suffering only minor injuries.

Darren Lewis, Lifeguard Inspector, comments: 'Pat played down his actions but very few people would have been able to do what Pat did that day.' In fact his actions resulted in him being awarded the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum – a highly prestigious award for Gallantry.