A MAN drowned after being hit by a huge wave, an inquest was told yesterday.
Kevin Scott, 20, of Fabian Road, Eston, near Middlesbrough, and three friends went to watch the rough seas, near Redcar, east Cleveland, in February.
He led the way along a concrete walkway lashed by 15ft waves but he was washed into the sea at the South Gare.
Earlier, friend Stephen Pell and teenage sisters, Emma and Fay Brooke, had been to Whitby in Mr Scott's car and decided to drive to the South Gare.
Mr Pell, of Ashbourne Close, Easton, threw his friend a lifebelt.
He said: "He was swimming and when I threw it, the wave came and he vanished. I lost sight of him for about two or three minutes and I shouted to Emma to go and get the coastguard."
Mr Pell, helped by a Teesmouth lifeboat crewman, fought for 40 minutes to revive Mr Scott, but then a paramedic told them he had been dead for some time.
Coroner Michael Sheffield recorded a verdict of misadventure
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