A WOMAN has described the terrifying moment she was swept out to sea.

Lise Vittrup got caught in the undertow after being knocked over by a wave while paddling near Brighton Palace Pier.

She had recently moved to Brighton to study a fine art photography course and said the dangers of the English Channel “did not occur to me”.

The Argus: Brighton Palace PierBrighton Palace Pier

Lise and a friend, who was also swept away by the current, were rescued by the RNLI after the pair sought safety under the pier.

The drama happened in September 1995 and now, more than 25 years on, Lise is  "giving back" to the RNLI by working in one of its charity shops.

Speaking about her frightening experience, Lise said: “I just went into survival mode and instinctively knew that I didn’t want to waste my energy swimming, I knew we had to save our energy by floating which was possible once we got beyond the breakers even though the sea was quite wild.

‘At this point the pier was still a distance from us. I had hold of my friend as she was having a bit more trouble than I was.

The Argus: Lise said she has a special place in her heart for the RNLILise said she has a special place in her heart for the RNLI

“Eventually we got close enough to the pier to make a break for it.

“I had hold of my friend all the time and together we managed to scramble up on to the struts underneath the pier.

“We were knocked off a few times by the waves but clambered on again.

‘My friend was losing strength and she just wanted to sleep.

“I was holding on to her wrist and I just screamed at her to keep going.

“When I saw the lifeboat coming in under the pier I knew we were safe.”

The rescue resulted in the RNLI awarding a Silver Medal to the lifeboat’s helm and a Bronze Medal to the other two crew members.

Lise said she has always had a “special place” for the RNLI since the rescue, so much so that she now manages the charity’s shop in Falmouth, Cornwall.

She said: “It really did have an effect on my life. I didn’t go near water for years after the incident.

“It was frightening thinking about being in water but then I moved to Cornwall and decided it was time to go back in the sea so I went for a swim and fell back in love with the water.”