A MAN was rushed to hospital following a ‘miracle’ rescue, after being pulled unconscious from the sea by a passing paddleboarder.

Not only did the boarder spot the body slumped underwater on the seabed, but two off duty trained lifeguards – and a passing doctor – just happened to be within earshot at the time.

They quickly teamed together and managed to resuscitate the unresponsive male, who witnesses said had stopped breathing and had no pulse.

Zasha Mitchell, one of the lifeguards who was at Branksome Chine beach, Poole, when the drama unfolded simply said: “It was just a miracle how he survived.”

Zasha from Poole, who works in her spare time as a lifeguard at Everyone Active in Poole and at Bovington Camp, told the Daily Echo: “This guy was paddleboarding, and as he came in he looked down and saw a body on the seabed.

“He brought the body up and we could hear him shout ‘somebody help, somebody help’ as he came to shore.”

Zasha and her friend Donna were part of a group sitting on the beach nearby, so they ran to assist.

“He was dead, turning purple and not breathing,” said Zasha. “He had no pulse and was full of foam. It was as bad as it gets.”

In another stroke of luck, one of the other people who ran to assist – who just happened to be passing by – was a doctor.

Between this doctor, understood to be an anaesthetist, and Zasha, the pair started CPR.

Zasha said: “I started wiping away all the gunk, we managed to keep his airway clear. There was no panic, I just remembered all of my training.

"Then he just gasped and started trying to breathe.

“I cannot believe just how lucky he was, that two lifeguards and a doctor were passing by.

“It was just a miracle.”

The victim, a man aged around his 30s, was believed to be a lone swimmer.

He was treated at the beach by paramedics and taken to hospital.

A Dorset Police spokesman confirmed: “We received a report at 7.48pm on Wednesday, August 11, of a man in need of medical assistance at Branksome Dene Chine in Poole.

“Officers attended to assist the ambulance service and the man was taken to hospital.”

RNLI lifeboats were also called to assist. An RNLI spokesman also confirmed the casualty was conscious by the time he was in the ambulance.