A man aboard a motorboat complaining of chest pains and difficulty in breathing led to Cowes RNLI lifeboat being urgently called out this morning (Sunday).
The man, believed to be in his 60s, was alone aboard the boat which was moored in the River Medina alongside Victoria Pontoon, off East Cowes. Although an ambulance had arrived on the shore its crew were unable to reach the pontoon because it had no pedestrian link to the land.
Mark Harker, the lifeboat helm, went aboard the boat and gave the man initial casualty care including oxygen. Meanwhile the lifeboat, with crew member Gratia Scott-Oldfield now at the helm, went to the shore to collect a paramedic from the ambulance.
Eventually after tests it was decided the man should be conveyed to the waiting ambulance and on to St Mary’s Hospital, Newport. Also on the East Cowes shore were members of The Needles Coastguard Rescue Team.
The lifeboat, which had launched at 08:29, returned to station at 09:10.
