A hero paramedic spoke today of how he saved a drowning four-year-old girl.

He did so by standing on the landing skids of a helicopter hovering just inches above the sea. Pilot John Sutherland brought the MD 902 Explorer helicopter down to three feet above the surface as paramedic Mike Crockford, attached to a harness, stepped out of the cabin.

With the skids partially submerged at one point, he reached down and grabbed the girl's coat, pulling her to safety in a daring and highly dangerous operation.

It is believed the youngster was playing on rocks at Shoreham Beach, off Basin Road South, when she fell, banged her head and plunged into the water.

The Sussex Police helicopter crew received a call at 12.10pm on Saturday saying the child's mother was on the beach watching helplessly as her daughter drifted out to sea.

Mr Crockford, 32, said: "We saw a woman waving frantically on the beach and pointing out to sea and we searched the area and saw the child." The motionless youngster, who was wearing a fur-style coat and tracksuit bottoms, was floating face-up under the water about 30 metres from the shore. With a coastguard rescue helicopter and Shoreham Lifeboat still several minutes away, the police crew had to react immediately.

Mr Crockford said: "We decided straight away we had to attempt a rescue because she was submerged and I already had my life-jacket on. I stepped out onto the skid and was holding onto the helicopter with one hand as I reached out to try to grab her. The skids were in the water at one stage and in my three years' experience I have never been that low over water before.

"There was a lot of spray, but I managed to grab her coat and we flew to the beach where she was taken onto the helicopter. We didn't know if she was alive or dead, but when we got her on board she started moving and crying. The doctor was trying to reassure her as we gave her oxygen and sucked fluid from her mouth. She was in a state of shock and I don't think it is an exaggeration to say she was seconds from death."

The girl was airlifted to Worthing Hospital before being moved to Guy's Hospital in London on Saturday afternoon where her mother had been taken by police. A Guy's spokesman said yesterday that the girl was conscious and in a stable condition.

Dr Priscilla Noble-Mathews, who was on the helicopter during the rescue, said: "I was spending the day with the crew as an observer and had been with them for about 15 minutes when they got the call. The pilot was superb and Mike's co-operation and co-ordination with him was amazing. The way he managed to grab the child was fantastic. If it hadn't been for them the child would certainly have died."

Sussex Police said the family did not want to be identified.

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