Video: Scot hits the board despite vowing never to surf again

Matthew Bryce made headlines around the world in May after being stranded at sea for 32 hours.

The 24-year-old had gone surfing at Westport Beach in Kintyre on 30 April but strong winds and tides pulled him 16 miles away from the Scottish coast.

He was found clinging to his board in the North Channel 13 miles from the coast of Northern Ireland 32 hours later where he was rescued by a coastguard helicopter.

The recuse came as the sun was setting on his second day at sea, at a time when Mr Bryce, from Airdrie, thought he would not survive having lost 5kg, while drifting in and out of consciousness

He spent eight days in hospital recovering from the effects of hypothermia and vowed never to surf again; the experience at sea to dramatic to contemplate returning to the sport.

However, within a few weeks Mr Bryce had opened up to the idea of returning to the water with a group.

He did just that at Surf Snowdonia, following an invitation to the inland surf lagoon in North Wales where he returned to the waves for the first time in the company of some of his closest surfer friends.

Mr Bryce said: “I was pretty much resigned to the fact that was not going to be surfing again. But Surf Snowdonia got in touch and said come down here, we can get you back in the water. It’s somewhere safe, it’s not in the sea. It was a really nice gesture.

“I can’t just stop, I enjoy surfing too much. This has been a great stepping stone to actually going back out in the sea.”