A Ukranian paddleboarder has described how she feared she was going to die after being swept out to sea - before being rescued by the heroes of the Largs lifeboat.
The frightening incident happened in Seamill last June, while the BBC were filming for their primetime TV series Saving Lives at Sea, all about the RNLI and their work around the country.
An offshore breeze resulted in the female paddleboarder, Natalia, being blown out to sea.
Her partner, who saw the incident from the shore, immediately contacted the emergency services.
But with off-shore winds reaching 25 miles an hour, the lifeboat crew's worry was that the paddleboarder could be blown out to sea before they could arrive.
The dramatic footage showed the lifeboat speeding to the location and crew spotting the casualty in the sea, and managing to lift her onboard.
Brian Rankin, helm of Largs Lifeboat crew, said: “She was extremely scared and physically shaking, but the big thing was the look of fear she had in her eyes at that point.
"You are always concerned about hypothermia so at that point the priority was to try and get her wrapped up."
Jennifer Flavell, a member of the Largs crew, said: "She kept saying she thought she was going to die. She was very panicky and very distressed and I tried to assure her.
"Having another female on board I liked to think help her and made her feel safe."
Natalia told the programme: “The thought that nobody is coming for help is a helpless feeling – the thought that you might die.
“I had had my paddleboard for two years and I was initially very exciting to be getting out on to the water. When I got pushed out to sea, I was very cold, and felt my hands couldn’t hold on to the board.
“I was feeling scared, absolutely panicking and thinking if nobody notices me out there I might be taken away to the ocean.
"I felt devastated finishing your life like that, and I never thought like this would happen to me.
"I didn’t know that help was coming. I turned to the left and I could see the lifeboat. I felt relieved, and thought 'oh my God, I will actually get back to safety and I will live'.
“When I got on the boat, a female crew member cuddled me and made me feel safe. It was absolutely amazing to get such support from the crew.”
Nataliia was seen being wrapped up to keep her warm while she was taken to Portencross and delivered into the care of the shore-based coastguard crew.
Brian continued: “We were very lucky Nataliie's partner responded as quickly as he did, and he managed to phone the coastguard 30 seconds after she had got into difficulty.
“If she had been out on her own, she could have been blown out to sea, and I wouldn’t have wanted to think what would have happened at that point.”
A very relieved Nataliia said: “The lifeboat crew saved my life that day and I will forever be grateful to them.”
Brian added: “People do things and sometimes get into very awkward situations – they don’t ask to be there.
“For me as a helm I am very proud of my crew at that point in time following the successful rescue.”
You can watch the dramatic footage on the BBC iPlayer at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001z2dw/saving-lives-at-sea-series-9-9-pride
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