A teenage boy who almost drowned near a beach has told how a stranger saved his life.

Cameron Bevis, 14, was being pulled out to sea by the tide in Ramsgate and struggling to stay above water when the heroic dad heard his calls for help.

The Ursuline College pupil was swimming with friend Tyreece Solly near the Granville Theatre when they got into difficulties.

“The tide was going out a bit and Tyreece was floating away and he couldn’t swim back towards us, so I tried to go and help him but we couldn’t touch the floor,” he said.

“So another girl tried to come in and help us but she couldn’t touch the floor either, so she got out.

“We were struggling to swim back in and were basically drowning.

“Tyreece managed to get to where he could pull himself out and he was trying to help me because I was trying to swim in.

“Every time I tried to swim in I was pulled back out so Tyreece told me to shout for help.

“People looked at me but didn’t do anything so I shouted help again.”

It was then the stranger, who was with two children himself, ran into the water to rescue the teenager.

“He ran down and jumped in, grabbed me by the waist and was kicking his legs,” Cameron added.

“He said to me ‘by the way, if you don’t start kicking your legs with me we’re both going to die'.

“Luckily we managed to get out. He saved my life.

“I was so shocked at what had happened - it felt like I was dreaming at the start.”

Out of their depth, the two boys had both taken in a lot of water.

“I had to pretty much use the last bit of energy I had to get out,” said Tyreece, who is a pupil at the Royal Harbour Academy.

“I cut my toe open and it wouldn’t stop bleeding. Once I was out, I just collapsed on the side.

“The man came over to check I was all right and I tried to thank him.”

The boys’ grateful mothers, who both lives in Conyngham Road, Ramsgate, are now desperate to find the man to thank him for his quick-thinking actions.

“It could have been such a different story,” said Alisia Williams, Tyreece’s mum.

“It’s very heroic in our eyes. He risked his own life for them.

“A lot of people think children are just messing about in the sea but he obviously realised they were in difficulty.

“We really want to thank him and if there’s anything we can do for him we’ll do it, because we could have lost them.”

Cameron’s mum, Sarah Sagir, added: “He’s risked his own safety to save our children and we just want to thank him for doing what he did.”

If you’re the mystery man, get in touch by emailing kdavis@thekmgroup.co.uk