FIVE heroes who who risked their lives rescuing a young girl from drowning in the Thames have relived the moment a sixth rescuer was dragged away by the current.

Four teenagers Kieran Wellard, Jake Cornish, Weronika Medlewska and Lewis Rossiter dived into the river with Carl Payne after hearing screams for help at about 3.30pm on Sunday.

The four friends had been swimming themselves on the hottest day of the year before retreating to sunbathe after the tide became too strong off Gordon Promenade.

Sixteen-year-old Kieran, of Eglinton Road, Swanscombe told News Shopper: “Me and my mates got up and jumped straight into the water.

“I grabbed the girl, I was swallowing loads of water, I couldn’t breathe. I went under water about five times and I passed on the girl to Lewis.

“I thought ‘crap I’m going to die but I’d rather a little girl survive than me.’ “We all helped and I thought just try your best. I couldn’t let her die.”

Mr Payne, 29, of Princes Road, Gravesend, had been relaxing with his family on the bank before the drama unfolded.

He said: "I jumped into the water and saw the girls hand and pulled her on my back. Lewis and Kieran caught up with me. I was about 20ft from the pier.

"I shouted to them to grab her while I swam to get a blue container to help drag her back to shore.

"I didn't realise there was a man in the water.

"Without the rest of the boys and the girl we would never have saved her."
 

A man in his 20s, named locally as Nathan Lane, who also jumped in to try to save the 12-year-old girl, is still missing after been dragged under the water by the strong current about 15ft out from the end of the pier.

Mr Wellard, who has just left Swan Valley Community School in Swanscombe, said: "I got out of the water and threw up. “We all just started crying.

“We were determined to make it out safe but one thing lead to another the current was too strong.”

A huge rescue operation was immediately launched involving the Gravesend RNLI, Kent Police Marine Unit, Coastguard and Essex’s Police Helicopter.

The girl, believed to be called Maria, was safely reunited with her parents thanks to combined effort of the teenagers and Mr Payne.

Weronika Medlewska, 15, a pupil at St John’s Catholic Comprehensive School in Gravesend, said: “The man was pulling me and Jake under the water so we just had to let him go.

“I got about an hour's sleep last night and I can't get over it.

“If someone had helped me and Jake we would have been able to get him out. "Me and Jake were holding him and he was just going down.”

North West Kent College student Lewis Rossiter said: "I'm happy that I got the girl out but I'm gutted about the bloke.

“Looking back I think I could have done more but at the time I couldn't.

“It just goes to show there are some good people out there but if just two more people were willing to help we could have got the bloke out as well.

“It was all left to just a couple of teenagers.” The 18-year-old added: “We all had to go through someone physically dying in front of us.

“I couldn't bear standing there on that pier and watching them drown.

“About 50 people just stood there and watched us.

"The current was amazingly strong and it was pulling me away from it all. “I had to swim against it and it was pulling me down.”

Two shoreline searches have been carried out since Sunday (JULY 14) with the second being suspended this afternoon when the tide began to rise again.