Entertainer Jonathan Trott has told how a man and his daughter had to be rescued from treacherous seas on Horseshoe Bay after the strong current swept them way out of their depth.

Mr. Trott, who runs Spanish Town entertainment, had just arrived on the beach when he heard screams coming from the water.

He ran to the water's edge and saw a young girl and a man struggling to stay afloat about 200 feet out from the shore - with a huge swell taking them further.

Mr. Trott said he looked around to see if there were any lifeguards on duty at about 6.45 p.m. last Thursday, and when he realised there was not, he grabbed a baby's rubber ring that belonged to a bystander.

"I ran into the water and was thinking to myself `am I doing the right thing'," said Mr. Trott.

"So many things go through your mind, but I just thought I had to go out and help these people. I thought we had already lost too many lives to the water with the storm that week, and I didn't want there to be any more.

"When I reached the girl, she was about 50 feet away from her father. I was able to calm her down and put the rubber ring on her and then started to pull her in."

Mr. Trott said three huge waves swept over them and he managed to get the young girl into shore on the surf of one of them.

Meanwhile, some other bystanders had rushed into the water to pull the girl's father to safety using body boards.

But, he said, he too had to struggle against the strong current as the waters were pulling him further and further out.

He finally managed to make it back to shore and his distraught five-year-old son, who he had left waiting on the beach.

Mr. Trott said the girl told him that she and her sister had been in the water when waves swept over them. Her sister had managed to make it out OK, but their father raced in when one of his daughters was unable get out quickly. However, they both found themselves being carried further and further out, and struggling for air.

When everyone was safely out of the water, the emergency services arrived, but the father and his daughter, although shaken and exhausted, declined hospital or medical attention.

"It think they (the father and daughter) were very upset," said Mr. Trott. "They were really in trouble. It shook me up afterwards - when I was lying in bed that night - so it must have shaken them an awful lot."

Mr. Trott said he did not notice any warning signs up on the beach, informing people not to swim because of the strong seas, but he urged people to monitor the current and waves before venturing in to swim, particularly after such a bad storm last week.

He added: "I train constantly down on that beach, and I swim there all the time, too, so it has all paid off, thankfully," he said