A woman who fell head-first into the sea has thanked the men who rescued her.

Theresa Bullock was knocked off her bike by a gust of wind while cycling on the promenade at Holland-on-Sea with her husband Rodney, 64.

With the sea at high tide, it was too deep for the 54-year-old to stand.

"I'm quite a good swimmer, but the water was hitting the sea wall, and waves were washing over me," said the grandmother-of-nine.

"It was very scary - I was terrified."

The Gazette told on Tuesday how Cyril Wyatt, of Amerells Road, in Little Clacton, and Ray Chillingworth, of Eastcliff Avenue, in Clacton, helped pull the business development manager out of the water and to safety.

"It was quite difficult for them - I'm quite heavy anyway, and having wet clothes made it worse," said Mrs Bullock, of Sudbury, who was then taken by air ambulance to Colchester General Hospital for a check-up.

"I didn't even feel cold until I got into the helicopter, even though I'd been in the water for about 20 minutes," she said.

"Then I started hyperventilating and feeling sick.

"But I was fine afterwards, apart from a few bruises and burnt pride!"

Mrs Bullock said she couldn't thank everyone enough for helping her on Monday.

"Everyone was so kind - the men, the ambulance crews and the staff at the hospital," she said.

"I am so lucky that there were people there to help me, and I'm so grateful to them.

"It's really made me re-evaluate what's important in my life."