A SURFER rescued after more than 30 hours lost in the Irish Sea was “pretty certain” he was going to die moments before he was spotted and saved by a helicopter.
Matthew Bryce, 22, was reported missing after heading out to surf on Sunday morning on the Argyll coast in the south west of Scotland.
The Glaswegian wasn’t found until the sun was setting on Monday evening, having drifted 13 miles towards Northern Ireland.
He had spent 32 hours in the water after strong winds and currents pulled him out to sea.
“It was all pretty terrible, but the night was the worst,” an emotional Mr Bryce told the BBC from his hospital bed in Belfast.
Scroll down to watch the surfer's first interview
“Sitting there, with the fishing boats in the distance. I shouted for the fishing boats. And they didn’t hear me. And they just sailed off. They just sailed away.”
Mr Bryce said he was believed he wasn’t going to survive when the sun began to set on his second night in the water.
“I knew I had maybe three hours and I was pretty certain that I was going to die with that sunset,” he said. “So I was watching the sunset and I’d pretty much made peace with it all and then a helicopter flew right over.
"So I jumped off the board and I lifted the board up and I started waving the board in the water and they flew right over, I thought they'd missed me.
"But then they turned round and when I saw them turn it was indescribable. I can't describe it at all.”
He added: "These guys were the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I owe them my life."
Mr Bryce drifted 13 miles off the Argyll coast before being airlifted to Belfast. Picture: Google MapsMr Bryce was found after Police Scotland and the coastguard launched a large-scale search, including multiple rescue teams from Campbeltown, Southend, Gigha, Tarbert and Port Ellen.
After his rescue, Mr Bryce was airlifted to a hospital in Belfast, where he continues to recover from hypothermia.
Rescuers said his thick wetsuit saved his life after such an extended period exposed to the elements.
Mr Bryce added: “It was incredibly lonely and quiet because there was just nothing – just waves.
“I hadn’t seen any helicopters. I was thinking I was going to die – I was pretty certain."
While Mr Bryce was alone in the water, his frantic family waited at home, desperate for any news.
“You just try to keep strong, you try to keep hope but the longer the day went on, the hope goes down. And when you get no news at all,” his father John Bryce said.
John Bryce said when he received a call from the police he feared the worst. “But it's a police inspector and all he said was: Matthew was found alive.”
The interview also revealed Mr Bryce was badly sunburnt after 32 hours exposed to the elements.
Asked if he was finished with surfing, he added: "I think so, I couldn't do that again."
