Surf may be up again for rescued Matthew

Bid after recovery from 30hr ordeal

THE surfer who was rescued after more than 30 hours stranded at sea revealed he may return to his board.

Matthew Bryce, 22, was treated for hypothermia after he was found drifting in the North Channel, 13 miles from the Co Antrim coast. Following his ordeal he vowed never to surf again but has had second thoughts. He has said he will never surf alone again and urged enthusiasts to get personal locator beacons which broadcast an emergency distress signal. Mr Bryce, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, told the Sunday Times he could return to the sport once his feet and fingers recover from the exposure. He said: “My feet apparently would not be able to handle the water temperature. “When they are better I will maybe consider going out with them as a group, I will never go surfing alone.” Mr Bryce thought he was going to die before being found by a helicopter. His family reported him missing when he failed to return from a morning surf off the Argyll coast of Scotland on April 30. He lost 5kg in the water as he passed in and out of consciousness and told how being stranded was a vision of hell. He said: “The night was horrible. It was just... nothing. There is only blackness. “It’s like how I imagine hell. Nothing can hear you, it doesn’t matter how hard you scream. You are alone. As far as the world is concerned, you don’t exist.” Mr Bryce is backing the campaign of a woman whose brother died while kayaking earlier this year. Ellie Jackson is raising funds to promote the use of personal locator beacons in memory of her brother Dominic Jackson.

LIFE SAVER Matthew Bryce, right, is winched to safety by the Coastguard