A good Samaritan says he dreads to think what could have happened if he had not found a mystery man slumped and unconscious at the foot of a sea wall.

Dad-of-two Stuart Rudd, 37, was walking from Minster to Sheerness late at night when he came across what he thought was a pile of rags near Barton’s Point Coastal Park.

But it turned out to be a 34-year-old Polish man who had apparently tumbled down the steps from the top of the seawall and knocked himself out.

Mr Rudd said: “He was breathing but unconscious and as cold as ice.

“I tried to wake him but he didn’t respond. I don’t know how long he had been there.

“I doubt if any passing motorists would have noticed him because he was wearing dark trousers and a dark coat with a hood.

"If I hadn’t seen him I daren’t think what might have happened.”

The demolition expert dialled 999 and waited for an ambulance but was surprised when a fire crew turned up.

He said: “They told me the nearest ambulance was in Canterbury. But they were very good.

"I doubt if any passing motorists would have noticed him because he was wearing dark trousers and a dark coat with a hood" - Stuart Rudd

"When they couldn’t revive him they turned him over and discovered he was soaking wet.

“It looked as if he had fallen into the sea then dragged himself over the seawall and fallen down the steps.”

Mr Rudd said firefighters peeled off the man’s wet clothes and wrapped him in a blanket. He had a pulse but started shivering violently.

According to Mr Rudd, the man was from Poland but had an address in Manchester.

A spokesman confirmed the South East Coast Ambulance Trust received an emergency call at 10pm but it was classified as a Category 2, which meant life was not in danger.

Category 2 calls should be answered within 18 minutes.

The spokesman said a clinically trained crew from Kent Fire and Rescue arrived within 17 minutes and an ambulance car arrived after 30 minutes.

An ambulance later took the man to Medway Maritime Hospital.

The spokesman added: “We were very busy at that time across the entire region.”

It is not known what happened to the man as a result of last Sunday's incident.

Do you know who the mystery man was? Call the Sheerness Times Guardian on 01795 580300 or email timesguardian@thekmgroup.co.uk