Children clung for life to pier as tide rushed in

A mum has returned to a seaside town where her son and nephew nearly drowned to thank the lifeboat volunteers who saved them.

Mother-of-four Zully, from Leeds, saw her 10-year-old son Subby and nephew Kizza, 12, clinging on to Blackpool's South Pier stanchions after being cut off by the rapidly rising tide on 28 May.

She feared the worst as she frantically tried to wade out to them and watched Subby's head disappear under the water.

"It didn't feel real, it was like I was in some kind of helpless dream - a nightmare," she recalled. "I could see my nephew hanging on, but I could see the fear in his eyes."

Another of her nephews, 21-year-old carer from Bradford Ted, clung to the pier while desperately trying to wade out to reach the boys.

"The tide started to come in quickly and I could see the boys in the distance - they were stuck and the water was rising rapidly," said Zully, who was celebrating Eid in Blackpool with 16 members of her family.

"A wave whacked me and hit me on the side. Ted turned to me and said 'Zully, get out, they're too far out'.

"I couldn't go back, as I knew if my son heard my voice, he'd hang on to the pier. I knew he'd cling on if he could hear my voice telling him not to let go, but by now the water was rising fast and I could see him going under."

Zully added: "I prayed: 'Lord, give me a miracle.'

"I was shouting at the top of my voice 'We need the orange boat'.

"At this point the boys had been hanging on for 40 minutes. I could see the water going over [my son's] head and him gasping for air, but I was struggling to see if he'd come back up again."

Blackpool's RNLI lifeboat was at the scene within four minutes of being called and manoeuvred alongside the pier to allow the volunteer crew members to pull the children to safety.

Video footage shows them grabbing hold of the youngsters.

Zully, who said she had not been aware of the RNLI charity before the dramatic rescue, said: "God bless these people.

"I can't comprehend the fact they are just normal people with jobs and their own family, but they'd risk that to save my family - that is the biggest miracle they could do."

After hugging his rescuers, Subby said: "Everyone who helped me was a blessing in my eyes.

"I might not have another chance like this."

Lifeboat volunteer Nathan Lee said: "If we had let go of them they would have been sucked under by the water.

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