An air cadet has been awarded for saving the life of a woman who tried to kill herself off the Sheppey coast.

Harvey Doherty, 16, was walking back to his home in Minster with his friend Connor Hewitt, also 16, after playing football in New Road, Sheerness.

The pair got near to the Neptune snooker club, off Marine Parade, at about 9.20pm when they heard a boy shouting for help.

“I knew someone was in trouble,” Harvey said.

“I went into cadet mode, went over to the boy to see if he was OK and he said ‘No, you need to help my mum’.

“He said she was going out to sea, trying to die.”

The former Fulston Manor pupil added: “I threw my bag down and my phone and ran out to sea, the water was up to my waist. I pulled the woman out.

"I had to restrain her on the floor so she couldn’t get away, she was trying to get back in the sea and telling me to leave her to it.

"I kept talking to her, I told her my name and that I was a cadet, and that she didn’t have to do this.”

While Harvey was trying to calm the woman, believed to be in her mid-30s, his friend Connor alerted emergency services and comforted her three young children on the beach.

"I knew someone was in trouble... I went into cadet mode" - Harvey Doherty

Police arrived at the beach shortly after.

Harvey said: “As the woman was walking away with the police she was saying 'thank you' to me.”

Harvey has been with 2316 Sheppey Squadron since March 2016 and is now a corporal.

He was awarded a Commandant’s Special Commendation for his bravery at Crowborough Training Camp, near Tonbridge, last month.

The rescue itself happened on Saturday, July 7.

The Canterbury College student said: “I am proud. I feel like I have achieved something.

“It was just my natural instinct. If someone’s life is at risk, you have to try and prevent it.

“I do believe being in the cadets helped me, 100%.

“I felt more prepared to be able to help.

"I would do it again without any doubt. It’s just how I am. It’s me."