A TEENAGER who was swept out to sea has hailed the family friend who rescued him as a hero.

Ryan Curran, 13, and David Farrar, 43, were minutes from death after a huge wave knocked the youngster into the North Sea, and Mr Farrar went in after him.

The pair were in a party of three families from Consett, County Durham, who were enjoying a Bank Holiday Monday seaside outing to Cresswell, in Northumberland.

Ryan, a pupil at St Bede's School, in Lanchester, had walked over to rock pools to warn Mr Farrar's ten-year-old son, Jordan, about the danger of being swept in, when the swell rose and dragged him under.

As the youngster was battered against jagged rocks, Mr Farrar tried to reach him - but was also swept in.

Ryan, who lives with his family in Forth Street, Crookhall, Consett, said: "I couldn't get any air.

"Every time I went up, I was swept back under again. David held my head up above the water - he saved my life."

The rest of the group searched for rescue equipment.

After failing to reach the pair with a buoy, they reached Ryan with a garden hose found by his friend and classmate, Christopher Urwin.

Mr Farrar was too exhausted to reach it and was kept afloat with the buoy until his friends could haul him to safety.

He was airlifted to hospital, and Ryan followed him by ambulance.

Mr Farrar, an aerospace worker, of Dacre Gardens, Consett, said: "As soon as Ryan was safe, I was just concentrating on getting myself out. But the current was so strong, it was battering me against the rocks and I was getting weaker and weaker.

"I thought I was on my way out. It was the most terrifying experience of my life."

Ryan's father, Neil Curran, was one of the people who helped pull Mr Farrar from the water with family friend Geoff Dance, from Lanchester.

Mr Curran said: "David certainly saved my son's life.

"When I arrived, I saw Ryan lying face down on the beach. We knew he was still alive and my next concern was to get Davey out.

"He was being crashed off the rocks like a rag doll. I thought there was no way he was getting out alive.

"To say it was terrifying would be an understatement. Their guardian angels must have been with them both."

The pair were both treated at Wansbeck General Hospital for hypothermia.

Mr Farrar also has a fractured elbow and lacerations to his body and legs, while Ryan suffered minor neck injuries.