“I cannot praise the emergency services enough for what they did” – that’s the words of 1 of the thankful casualties from yesterday’s dramatic air-sea rescue at Freshwater Bay, which saw 4 paddleboarders taken to safety.
It was at around 13:00 yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) that the group found themselves stranded on a secluded beach after a freak wave knocked 2 of the party off their paddleboards and into the rocks, as first reported by Island Echo.
With 1 of the group members sustaining a bad ankle injury, which made it impossible for her to do anything, it soon became clear that they would need the help of the emergency services.
A 999 call was made to HM Coastguard which prompted the launching of Yarmouth RNLI and Lymington RNLI Lifeboats, The Needles and Ventnor Coastguard Rescue Teams and later Coastguard Rescue 175 helicopter from Lee-on-Solent.
It didn’t take long for emergency teams to arrive on the scene when the severity of the situation became clear. 3 members of Yarmouth Lifeboat waded ashore from the Y-Boat, joining 2 fellow volunteers from Lymington Lifeboat who were already on scene. The crews administered pain relief and immobilised the casualty’s suspected broken ankle to prevent any further injury.
It was soon determined that the Coastguard helicopter would be required to winch at least 2 casualties out of harm’s way.
With the utmost professionalism and bravery, a winchman was lowered down – twice – to retrieve 2 of the 4 group members. They were then dropped off at the clifftop and stretchered away by Coastguard Rescue Officers into the care of the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service, which has 2 paramedic crews and an operational commander standing by.
The 2 other party members were extracted by sea; 1st onto Yarmouth’s Y-boat, then onto Lymington’s Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat before being transferred aboard Yarmouth’s All Weather Lifeboat. The duo were taken to Yarmouth Harbour, where The Needles Coastguard Rescue Team had relocated to provide assistance.
Speaking exclusively to Island Echo, 1 of those winched to safety has said:
“Phoning for help was the last thing we wanted to do but as it turned out it was the only way we could get out of there.
“As you can imagine it was a bit traumatic for us.
“I cannot praise the emergency services enough for what they did. From start to finish – including at the hospital – they were all amazing”.
I wonder how many sponging gimme grants were left floating in the channel because of this job that the RNLI were doing.
for once they were actually focused on what they are supposed to be doing, instead of pandering to a bunch of leeches turning up in dinghys, that should be left out there.
They shouldn’t be left out there, they should be returned to France.
You clearly have no Idea what the RNLI does on the island.Do some research before you start posting comments
I bet you were one of the people who voted to leave the EU (and consequently our ability to process asylum claims from the French side of the channel).
We have zero chance of sorting the migrant crisis currently because so few people (and the current government) are acknowledging what is really driving it.
These invaders are deliberately being allowed into the UK, all parties what ever colour they are want as many as possible……Something is going on, and the government know our army would never kill there own people, that’s why when the shxt hits the fan we are in a lot of trouble….Thousands of young men housed on military basses, all young fighting age so called asylum seekers, What a load of crxp…
The problem of mass illegal immigration goes back long before us leaving the EU. Even the left-wing Guardian newspaper admits it goes right back to when Tony Blair was Prime Minister. There’s an article dated March 2015 (obviously pre-Brexit) which spells out the issue of mass immigration and an open border policy during Blair’s tenancy of Number 10.
Sorry, I know Brexit is the usual go-to excuse for anything and everything which goes wrong, but mass immigration precedes that by some margin of time and can be laid firmly at the door of Tony Blair and New Labour.
Well said, I remember voting for Blair when he got into power, and it was the worst vote I ever did……There was absolutely no mention of his intention to flood our country with cheap foreign labour in his manifesto, thanks to him our country is unrecognisable and he destroyed the real labour party….
So you like to flip flop aswell then hahaha
But that was then. This is now you cannot keep feverishly digging up “what Labour did or didn’t do facts” to try and prop up a government that is clearly not fit for any purpose. I wouldn’t let them lose to clean a public toilet let alone run this Country!… Conservative ‘a have had long enough to” sort out issues”as Seldom seen Seeley likes to quote when you can find him, half the problem is puticians dredging up the past, waiting for the debate which means they do “diddly squat” to solve it… Very easy to keep blaming the past encumbrants, means you don’t have to do anything to move it forward and fix it!.
They are not asylum seekers, they are economic migrants taking advantage of our idiotic handouts. They almost certainly include criminals, They is no check on the diseases they are bringing in and many of them disappear on landing.
(And the RNLI are assisting in all of this even when the ‘boats’ are not in trouble, no wonder their donations are dropping off)
Paddle boarders should only be allowed on inland waters.
Grockles who don’t know what they are doing on the water is what happened, don’t tar us all with the same brush.
I had to rescue another idiot in exactly the same spot on my paddle board earlier this year.
It’s idiots who have no idea of tides, wind and basic seamanship that cause these problems.
Not to mention boats speeding past them an them falling off in their wake.
Good old IE comments.
Always great entertainment laughing at the swivel-eyed losers blaming everyone but their own laziness and stupidity for their crap lives.
Most immigrants work twice as hard and with greater skill that bitter old losers like “islander”
How quickly the sad keyboard warriors jump in and change the subject to their own agenda. Well done to our brilliant emergency services, thank you for everything you do.
Well said. I couldn’t agree more, especially about keyboard warriors!
i hope all of you immigrant apologists have welcomed one into your homes and are paying out of your own pockets for their upkeep, as well as happily allowing them to go before you at the hospital
do gooders, until if affects them
Dave: If you take time to read my and Sue’s comments properly you will see that nowhere did I condone the illegal immigration across the English Channel.
I was merely saying that l agree that the rescue services should be thanked, and the that comments should not have been about illegals.
The lifeboats were doing exactly what they were intended to do, which doesn’t include acting as a taxi service for illegals.
I am definitely NOT an “immigrant apologist”.