A mother is searching for a off-duty lifeguard who saved her 12-year-old daughter from drowning.

Megan Gulliford, from Bridgend, Wales, said she 'would have died' if not for the help of a man who told her he was in the area for his mother's funeral.

The schoolgirl's mum Pippa Gulliford now wants to thank the hero for his brave actions, Wales Online reports.

Megan cried for help after she found herself struggling in the water at Rest Bay, Porthcawl, at around 6pm on Monday.

Her sister Cerys, 18, watched in horror from the beach as her Megan tried to swim back to shore, before being pushed repeatedly on to jagged rocks causing her injuries to her arms, legs and side.

Megan found herself in difficulty while swimming in Rest Bay in Porthcawl

Megan said: "I went down to the beach and I was in the water up to my ribs. My sister kept telling me to come back but I couldn't move.

"Every time I tried to swim I kept going backwards - I was getting really scared. I was screaming and crying and I could hear my sister screaming for me and our dog barking.

"I thought I was going to die. I was swimming as strongly as I could, I'm quite a good swimmer but I wasn't strong enough."

She smashed up against jagged rocks in the sea
The schoolgirl was left with cuts across her body after the episode

Eventually, a big wave pushed Megan forward to give her "a little boost" so she could to cling to the nearest big rock.

She said: "My eyes are sensitive and the water was getting into them so my eyes were closed and I couldn't see anything but I managed to grip onto the rock.

"A wave came then and chucked me over a load of rocks and hit my sister as well who came out to try and help me.

"I got cuts on my arms, legs, feet and sides but I didn't hit my head or anything. I have no idea how long it was, it went so fast.

She said the off-duty lifeguard saved her from drowning

"It feels like it was all a dream it was so unreal in the moment, I was in pure shock."

Megan said she "would have died" without the help of a man who waded into the water to save her and carried her to the beach on his shoulers.

Megan and her mum, Pippa, want to get in touch with the man to thank him. Although they didn't catch his name, he told them he was an off-duty lifeguard who was in the area for his mother's funeral that day.

The hero passerby was in the area for his mother's funeral

"I think him and his family were still in the funeral clothes. They saw all the commotion and Cerys screaming and came down to help," Megan added.

"I remembered from school to put your hand up if you're in trouble in the water and that's maybe why he came down too.

"If he hadn't come I would have kept being thrown into the rocks and carried out to sea. If we can find him we want to thank him and buy him a drink or something."

Megan thinks she would have been carried out to sea if not for the man

She avoided a trip to hospital but Megan was tended to at home by her nanna, a nurse, and her mum, a health care support worker.

Megan's mum Pippa said: "We want to thank him from the bottom of our hearts. There could have been a whole different outcome and maybe not just for only one daughter but two.

"Kids need to made aware, Megan only went out for a little paddle. You think you're all right just up to your knees but you can just be swept off your feet."

Anyone who can help the family get in touch with the man who saved Megan can contact Pippa through her Facebook account.

Megan said she and Cerys, who both suffered cuts and bruising during the incident, are having flashbacks and the man asked Megan to "promise she'll go back" to Rest Bay but she "doesn't think she ever can".