A NEWLYWED couple jumped into rough seas to save a young teenager from drowning in a rip tide.

Emma Smith, 43, told how she almost succumbed to the water herself, when she threw herself instinctively into the sea after hearing the 13-year-old ‘screaming in terror’.

Husband Darryl, also 43, was right behind his wife, and managed to pull both Emma and the teen to safety.

The pair, from Farnham in Surrey, were holidaying in West Bay with family when the incident happened around 4pm on Monday, August 15.

Lifeguards and paramedics were on scene and the girl’s family took her to hospital.

Emma said she had been in contact with the girl’s mother since the incident, and the teen has physically recovered, although she was treated for water inhalation.

Now, Emma wants to speak out to warn others about the dangers of the sea.

The drama unfolded on West Beach at West Bay, which is not manned by lifeguards.

She said: “We weren’t actually going to go to the beach that day, but it was sunny and we wanted to make the most of our last few days on holiday.

“I first saw the girl in the water, about 20 or 30 feet out. Our eyes locked and I could see the terror on her face. She put her hand up and started shouting.”

Fully-clothed, Emma dived into the sea, but quickly realised she had misjudged both the height of the waves and the strength of the current.

“By the time I got to her she was really panicking. She was desperately close to dying. The girl was drowning in front of me but I didn't have the strength to hold her up and keep myself afloat, as she was pulling me under too.”

Emma, a mother-of-two, had not realised her husband had followed her into the sea.

She added: “Suddenly, there he was, right behind me. He told me what to do when I was panicking too, and dragged both of us back to safety. Only his strength, fitness and common sense in a life-threatening situation made a difference.”

Safely ashore, lifeguards checked the teen over. A spokesman for the RNLI confirmed the incident took place on a beach where they do not keep watch.

A spokesman for the South West Ambulance Service Trust said paramedics attended the incident at 4.05pm on Monday, August 15, and that the girl made her own way to hospital with family.

He added that she had inhaled some water and had been pulled from a rip current.

Emma said she is coming to terms with what ‘could have been a double tragedy’.

“Before my husband got there I realised that I would have to let go of the girl or drown myself. I’m still struggling with that.

“She must have gone under about eight times. All I was thinking was, I’ve just got married, we have a lovely family.”

Emma issued a stark warning about the dangers of the sea.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a strong swimmer. As we were leaving the beach I saw a young boy playing in the water, and I had to say something to his mother, I had to tell her what nearly happened just half an hour before, but she didn’t realise the dangers.

“It is terrifying. Two people could have died that day.”