A TEENAGE girl has revealed she thought she was going to die while stuck under Brighton Palace Pier.

Kaya Weston and her friend decided to go for a dip in the sea on Tuesday night.

But things quickly went from fun to frantic as a wave washed over her and left her stranded under the structure.

An onlooker spotted the distressed youngster screaming for help and called emergency services shortly after 8pm.

Police, Coastguard, lifeboat and ambulance crews were quickly on the scene and the two teenagers were rescued.

Now Kaya, 17, has told her story to The Argus – and says she will never step foot in the sea again.

She said: “Young kids these days don’t think bad things like this are going to happen to them.

“I’m not a strong swimmer at all.

“We were walking as far out as we could then we were going to come back.

“When we turned round there was a dip and I slipped, then a massive wave came over me and dragged me under.

“It was terrifying. I thought I was going to die.”

Kaya, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was in Brighton on a day trip with three friends, celebrating one of her friends passing her driving test.

She said the 17-year-old boy friend she was with, who has asked not to be identified, helped pull her up from under the water and “put her before himself”.

She added: “We both looked at each other and said ‘I think it’s time for us to go now’.”

It has been a lesson learnt for Kaya, who insists she is going to be doing things differently when it comes to the water from now on.

She said: “I’ve never come close to drowning or anything like that in my life.

“I’m lucky to be alive.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to go in the sea again, to be honest. I don’t think I’ll even go out to a swimming pool.

“I just want to say to other youngsters, think before you do things. Small decisions can turn into a life-threatening situation.”

Another one of Kaya’s friends got in the water to try to help, but hit her head on part of the pier.

She and Kaya were taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton to be checked over, but neither suffered serious injuries.

Kaya has, though, got a chest infection from the being out in the sea and is taking antibiotics. She also sustained cuts and bruises around her body.

Kaya, who is hoping to go to college, also wanted to pay a special thanks to the emergency services who helped save her.

She said: “I couldn’t thank them enough.

“They were amazing.”