A KAYAKER saved his friend's life we he suffered heart problems in the water.

Damian Evans, 44, of Worthing, held his friend Paul's head above the water for almost half an hour as he fell in and out of consciousness while the lifeboat crew made their way to them.

It was keen kayaker Paul's first trip on the water having been suffering from a heart condition, but as the friends were paddling back to Goring beach before nightfall on Monday, Paul began suffering from a fast heart rate and capsized into the water.

Damian said: "Paul is a really keen kayaker but it was his first time back on the water.

"We had all the safety equipment, flares and buoys, we hadn't gone out unprepared.

"If I hadn't been there he would have been dead."

Damian tried to tow his friend back to the shore, then realised they needed more urgent help and called the Coastguard.

He then held his friend's head above the water for 26 minutes as he fell in an out of consciousness.

"On a couple of occasions I thought he was going to die," he said.

"His eyes rolled into his head and he started making chocking noises.

"I was just trying to keep him out of the water and waiting for the coastguard."

He added: "I looked around to see how far he was behind and watched him capsize.

"I paddled back to him frantically to see if he was okay eventually seeing him surface after several seconds. He said he had blacked out.

"I positioned my kayak next to him in an attempt to right his boat and get him back on board.

"He looked very ill and weak so I decided to call the coastguard.

"Fortunately, he was wearing a buoyancy aid and a wetsuit, which kept him warm for the duration of his time in the water.

"During this time he had several episodes where he was becoming unconscious.

"I kept talking to him and holding on to his arm, and trying to keep his head up whilst calling the Coastguard.

"After 26 minutes, the boat arrived and took him ashore to a waiting ambulance.

"I paddled back to retrieve his upturned kayak with the help of a smaller lifeboat crew."

The Coastguard helicopter arrived at about 9.40pm and winched a crew member down to the water to help Paul to the safety of Worthing Pier.

From there he was taken to Worthing hospital, where he was last night still in intensive care in a stable condition having undergone a heart operation.

Littlehampton RNLI praised Damian's efforts. 

Nick White, lifeboat operations manager at Littlehampton said “This was a great display of joint working."