UPDATED: A female has been airlifted to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham by the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter after suffering a medical episode on board a yacht at Newtown this afternoon (Sunday).
The helicopter from Lee-on-Solent was tasked to Newtown Creek between Cowes and Yarmouth by Solent Coastguard after it was reported that a female was unconscious.
Cowes RNLI lifeboat were also tasked to the scene at 13:50 to the 40ft yacht Omert, which was on charter from Lymington with around 10 people aboard.
First on the scene was the helicopter whose paramedic was lowered to carry out a preliminary assessment of the woman who, although now conscious, was disoriented.
The paramedic was soon joined on the yacht by lifeboat crew members Peter Murphy-Latham and Graham Creagh who helped put the woman into a stretcher to be lifted up into the helicopter. The woman, aged 84 and from Surrey, has been flown directly to the QA hospital in Cosham, Portsmouth.
Meanwhile the professional crew aboard the Omerta have arranged for the remainder of the charter party to be quickly taken by an inflatable boat back to Lymington.
Photograph thanks to Lynda Chandler
