A MAN today told how he was just 30 seconds from death after plunging into Weymouth harbour.

Mark Scales, who is visually impaired, became trapped under a pontoon and began swallowing water.

He says that he thought he was going to die as he lost a grip on the pontoon and slipped under the water.

However, passers-by managed to grab him before he disappeared beneath the surface.

Mr Scales, 35, from North London, who cannot see much further than five metres and often uses a white stick, was on holiday in the town with three friends, all of whom are visually impaired, when the incident occurred.

He was planning to take a boat trip around Portland Harbour and stepped down on the pontoon to check the price list and timetable.

He said: “I went down the steps and half way down a seagull hit my cap and I was distracted.

“Without thinking about it – I wasn’t looking down, I was looking up – I kept walking and called out to my friend ‘look what happened’ and I went straight in..

“I’m not a strong swimmer – I can do a width in a pool.”

He added: “It was shocking but quite surreal. I struggled and managed to get back to the top and came up under the pontoon.

“It was dark and I tried to get back on to the pontoon but kept slipping and going back underwater because of the algae.

“Fifteen to twenty seconds in, I thought ‘I’m going to die’.

Mr Scales eventually resurfaced and managed to scream ‘help me’.

Four passers-by, including Nigel Locke, pulled him out and on to the pontoon and called an ambulance.

They had to be careful as he was stuck on a bolt that was protruding from the pontoon which had broken when he plunged in.

Mr Scales was left battered and bruised and suffering from shock. He was taken by ambulance to Dorset County Hospital as he had swallowed a substantial amount of water which had got onto his lungs. He is currently on antibiotics.

He has been getting flashbacks of the incident and said that he would not be going on any boats for a while.

Mr Scales said: “In the ambulance they said it was a near drowning. I maybe visually impaired but I’m not deaf and it hit home that it was really serious.

“The last doctor I saw said that if I had been under the water 30 seconds more, that could have been it.”

“I feel very lucky. It makes me very emotional now because it was so close.”

He added: “I called Nigel to say thank you but saying thank you will never be enough.

“I would like to think someone was watching over me that day.

“They had that special thing – not everyone’s got that guardian angel instinct to put someone else before them.”