PHOTOS: WOMAN UP TO HER WAIST IN MUD RESCUED FROM BEMBRIDGE CLIFF

A woman stuck up to her waist in mud – and her dog – have been rescued thanks to a multi-agency operation in Bembridge this morning (Sunday). It was shortly before 10:15 that HM Coastguard and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service were alerted to a casualty stuck fast in mud between Whitecliff Bay and Forelands. Bembridge Coastguard Rescue Team and Ventnor Coastguard Rescue Team were both tasked to the scene, alongside Bembridge RNLI’s All Weather and Inshore lifeboats. Firefighters from Ryde, Newport and Shanklin were also mobilised alongside an operational commander and critical care paramedic from the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service. It’s understood the casualty managed to call 999 using her mobile phone. The lifeboat subsequently transferred crews from the beach at Whitecliff to the scene near Black Rock. Now, Coastguard Rescue Officers, firefighters and RNLI volunteers have worked together to successfully free the woman using specialist equipment. She has been placed onto a stretcher and transferred onto Bembridge’s Inshore Lifeboat, which has in turn transferred the casualty onto the All Weather Lifeboat. The woman is to be transferred to the boathouse at Bembridge for further assessment. The task of transferring all the equipment and personnel back to Whitecliff now begins, followed by the washing down process. Today’s incident comes a week after a mud rescue in St Helens and just a few weeks after 2 mud rescues in Thorness – making 4 such incidents in the first 3 months of 2024. It’s thought today’s casualty was cut off by the tide and walked towards the base of the cliff before getting stuck in boggy conditions.