THIS video shows the moment a tombstoner belly-flopped 200ft into the sea from Durdle Door as a care worker told of performing CPR on the beach.

The man who needed CPR, aged 20, jumped into the shallow water yesterday, knocking himself unconscious.

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He was rescued after several minutes on the sea floor and dragged back to shore by paddle boarders Mike Wiley and Dylan Kirkwood, from Southampton.

Care worker Yasmin Allen, 23, was on the beach and witnessed the shocking incident.

Once the victim was back on the land she and two other members of the public laid him on the ground and performed CPR for over five minutes.

A specialist first aider then arrived before the coastguard and paramedics turned up a short time later.

Miss Allen, from Somerset, said: "My sister Courtney and I were on the beach and saw it unfold. The lad jumped in and just didn't come up.

"Thankfully the two guys who’d been sat behind us had gone out on their paddle boards just in case something went wrong.

"They did so well to get him up and pull him back to shore. He was not conscious so myself and two other people laid him out and started CPR.

"It felt like longer but it was probably about five or six minutes before a first alder and then the paramedics turned up. They put a defibrillator on him and he was taken away in the air ambulance."

He and another man who suffered spinal injuries were airlifted to a major trauma unit at Southampton Hospital.

A third is believed to have broken his leg and was driven to hospital by ambulance.

A witness, who didn't want to be named, said: "This guy had clambered onto the top of the Durdle Door arch and he jumped off and he just disappeared under the water, he didn't come back to the surface.

"People jumped in and dived down to try and find him and eventually he was dragged onto the sand unconscious.

"It was horrific, and there was another guy behind him waiting to jump but he decided not to when he saw what had happened to the other man.

"Everybody was crowded round this poor guy, there must have been upwards of 200 people crammed around him, it was insane. It's the biggest belly-flop I've ever seen."

Witness Ben Clark described how the man failed to resurface.

He said: "The lad did not come back to the surface, he just never came back up.

"He got CPR on the beach right in front of my eyes. Then a defibrillator was used."

Another witness Hayden Bradley added: "For the amount of people cheering and encouraging others to do it, was disgusting.

"Our hearts honestly skipped a beat after one of them failed to come back up from the water after jumping in.

"It's a traumatic sight to experience lots of people swimming in to try and save him, bringing him back to shore and witnessing him being unconscious for so long.

"He had CPR and we watched a very young man fight for his life, for a long long time before we saw any sight of professional help.

"I don't think it's something we'll ever be able to forget."

Dorset Council later shut the public roads leading to Durdle Door – although the beach was still packed today and people were seen risking their lives by jumping into the water from the landmark.

A ranger for the Lulworth Estate, which owns the area around Durdle Door, said: "The first casualty was unconscious on the sea floor for well over a minute before someone waded out and rescued him.

"He was taken by air ambulance to Southampton General Hospital, as was the second guy who suffered spinal injuries.

"The last victim was found on top of the cliffs having made his own way up there before collapsing.

"He suffered torso injuries and a suspected broken leg and was taken to Dorset County Hospital by road."

They erected signs today warning people not to jump off the archway and reminding them to stay two metres apart.

A Lulworth Coastguard spokesman said: "We understand that four individuals jumped from Durdle Door (some 70ft) yesterday, encouraged by the crowds on the beach.

"Upsetting scenes like we and many others witnessed yesterday illustrate how very dangerous tombstoning is.

"We couldn't discourage it enough."

The coastguard added that police officers also had to deal with boozy fights between people after they were asked to leave the beach.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Callaghan, of Dorset Police, said: "The images circulated from Durdle Door yesterday show that too many people made the decision to go the beach rather than going elsewhere.

"The critical incident that occurred in this area demonstrates how important it is to act responsibly and not overcrowd our beaches.

"If an emergency situation arises, we need to be able to clear an area to allow for the treatment of seriously injured people. As there were too many people on the beach, we had no option but to put people together in to allocated areas to allow helicopters to land.

"Yet again, we would remind the public that if an area looks too busy, please go home or elsewhere."

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