A seaman was rescued from rough seas near Sunderland after he had a suspected heart attack.
Footage from the RNLI shows just how bad the conditions were on Friday amid a battering from strong winds and a tidal surge.
But the lifeboat crew braved the turbulent waves to get to the man, a Ukrainian chief engineer, who had fallen ill on board the huge vessel, HC Jette-Marit.
He was then flown to hospital by helicopter in Newcastle and was fortunately well enough to walk off the helicopter himself.