I’d made my peace and prepared to die
Tears of the surfer saved after 32 hours lost at sea
A SURFER who was lost at sea for 32 hours revealed yesterday how he ‘made his peace’ with the world and prepared to die.
In an emotional interview, Matthew Bryce said he had given up hope of survival and watched the sun set convinced he would never see it rise again.
Amazingly, the 23- year- old was later plucked from the middle of the Irish Sea by coastguards – and he’s now vowed to give up surfing for good and burn his board.
The surfer entered the sea at 11.30am on Sunday off the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland, and was found 13 miles off the coast at 7.30pm on Monday.
Speaking from his hospital bed in Belfast yesterday, he choked back tears as he said it was ‘incredibly, incredibly lonely and quiet’ amid the waves as he approached a second night in the water and realised he had no hopes of rescue.
‘I watched the sun set, pretty much made peace with it all. I was thinking I was going to die, I was convinced entirely, I didn’t think I would see the sunrise,’ he said.
A coastguard helicopter found him alive after a ‘colossal effort’ to search 269 square miles of sea.
‘I jumped off the board and I started waving the board,’ he said. He (the pilot) flew right over us. I thought he’d missed us.’
He said it was ‘indescribable’ when the helicopter turned round and winched him to safety. ‘Those guys were the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. They saved my life, I can’t thank them enough,’ he said. Asked what he’ll do with the surfboard he clung to for dear life, he replied: ‘I think we’ll find a use for it, maybe as starter fuel.’ He said he was ‘done’ with surfing, adding: ‘I couldn’t do that again’.
Mr Bryce, from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, was flown to Belfast and remains at the Ulster Hospital where he is being treated for hypothermia and dehydration. He was also suffering from severe sunburn. His ordeal began soon after he entered the sea at Westport Beach in Mull. He only planned to spend four hours in the sea, but the wind and water were ‘just relentless’. He tried to paddle back towards the shore – agonisingly reaching ‘within about a mile of land’ but the tide changed direction. ‘It got to the point where my paddling was ineffective but I was doing it to keep warm,’ Mr Bryce added. Fishing boats appeared in sight at one point and Mr Bryce shouted towards them, but his cries were unheard and they sailed away. By nightfall he said there was ‘nothing, just waves’. He was forced to cling to his board in waters of just 8C (46F) while his body temperature plunged to 32C (89.6F). Rescuers said his life was saved by the surfer’s 5mm thick neoprene wetsuit, which helped retain enough body heat. Despite his ordeal, a hospital spokesman said Mr Bryce is comfortable and recovering well, add- ing that staff had a whip-round to buy him pyjamas and a toothbrush when he arrived.