Posted May 05, 2017 10:22:11

It started off like any other Sunday morning surf — Matthew Bryce drove to the beach, waxed his surfboard and entered the ocean to catch some waves.

About 30 hours later, he would be plucked from the Irish sea and come face-to-face with the people he would describe as "the most beautiful sight I've ever seen" — his rescuers.

In an interview with BBC from his hospital bed in Belfast in Northern Ireland, Mr Bruce said he owed his life to the rescue crew after he spent hours contemplating his likely death in complete isolation.

"[It was] incredibly, incredibly lonely and quiet because there was nothing — just the waves," he said.

"I was thinking I was going to die, I was almost convinced entirely, I didn't think I'd see the sun rise.

"The night was the worst, sitting there with the fishing boats in the distance, because I shouted for the fishing boats and they didn't hear me."

Officials only noticed Mr Bryce was missing roughly 24 hours after he entered the water on Sunday morning at around 11:00am, making his location more difficult to predict.

His family told the BBC they did their best to stay strong but when hope began to fade, Mr Bryce's mother Isabella discussed with his brother-in-law who would identify the body when it was found.

Mr Bryce said right before he was rescued, he watched the sunset as if it was his last.

"I was [drifting] out west and watching the sunset, because I knew I wasn't going to make it all night," he said.

It was at this point that a helicopter flew right over him.

"I jumped off my board and picked up the board and started waving it," he said.

"They flew over and I'd thought they'd missed me, then they turned around and when I saw them turn it was just indescribable.

"Those guys are the most beautiful sight I've ever seen. I owe them my life."

Topics: accidents, human-interest, northern-ireland, scotland