The last time tiny Amber Finch-Sortain saw this helicopter crew was when they plucked her unconscious from the sea.

The four-year-old was hauled to safety after hitting her head on rocks before being swept out to sea in February.

Yesterday, the Hove toddler finally met the three men who saved her life.

She was rescued when pilot John Sutherland manoeuvred his police helicopter down to the surface as paramedic Mike Crockford, attached by a harness, stepped out of the cabin.

Standing on the skids, he grabbed Amber, who was floating face-up in the water.

Yesterday, after seeing her again for the first time since the rescue, Mike, 33, said: "This is one of the best days of my life. To see her running around is superb."

Amber visited the crew at the police helicopter base at Shoreham Airport with her dad Tim.

There she met John, Mike and Sgt Paul Furnell, who arrived at the scene off Shoreham beach within minutes of Amber's mum, Debs, calling the Solent coastguard.

On arrival they decided to pluck Amber from the sea, despite their helicopter not being fitted with a winch.

Paul, 32, said: "We didn't have much choice because the coastguard was about ten minutes away.

"At first I was going to jump into the water and swim with Amber to the shore but because she wasn't moving we decided there wasn't enough time."

Instead, John brought the helicopter down to the surface of the water.

Paul said: "If things had gone wrong it doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened.

"But I don't think anybody else in a similar position would have hesitated to do what we did. The best reward for us is seeing Amber here today."

Amber was flown to hospital in Worthing before being transferred to intensive care at Guy's Hospital, London. She regained consciousness nine hours after the accident, which happened after she slipped walking with her mum on the rocks near Basin Road South.

Four days later she was released from hospital suffering only from a black eye.

But the accident has not made the little girl, who starts Stanford School in September, frightened of water.

Her dad Tim, an archaeology student who lives in Hove, said: "I'm teaching her how to swim.

"She has been fine since she woke up and recognised her mum."