Joggers rescued from cove
News Archive > General > Joggers rescued from cove
Whipsiderry on Wednesday.
The two men, who were suffering from hypothermia when they were eventually pulled aboard the lifeboat, had run from Porth beach to the north end of Watergate bay and were making their way back when they were caught out by the incoming tide.
They were later joined by local surfer Craig Sommerville who had a better view of the shoreline from the water and had guided them to a safer place on the rocks.
Newquay’s D class lifeboat, Valerie Wilson, launched with Mark Morris at the helm accompanied by Richard Martin and Aaron Trebilcock. Christian Brown took the helm of the Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Gladys Mildred, with volunteer crew members Ian Jepson, and Kevin Walsh on board.
Arriving on scene Mark quickly located the casualties on rocks at the end of a gully. With a two metre heavy surf running into the boulder strewn gully, access for the lifeboat was extremely difficult.
Newquay’s Coastguard cliff rescue team were unable to reach the casualties from the cliff top. The helmsman’s opinion was that the best option for evacuation was by helicopter.
Realising the lifeboat would have difficulties reaching them the casualties leapt into the sea to try to reach the lifeboat. Assessing they were in a perilous situation Mark reacted quickly, manoeuvering the lifeboat in as close as he could whilst his two volunteer crew jumped overboard to help.
A lifeboat spokesperson described the rescue.
“At times out of their depth and struggling for footholds, Richard Martin fought the surf to hold the lifeboat still in a safe position whilst Aaron Trebilcock attempted to make his way to the casualties. The floor of the gully was littered with loose rocks and boulders making Aaron’s progress very difficult,” she said.
“On reaching the casualties, Aaron then slowly made his way back out of the gulley to the lifeboat with each casualty in turn.
“Due to their severe hypothermic state he had to drag them through the powerful surf surges, himself often being knocked backwards onto the rocks.”
The spokeseperson continued: “A third person, a surfer, was not in difficulty but had remained with the two runners in case things took a turn for the worse.
“When they reached the lifeboat both of the casualties were in a bad state, neither able to help themselves into the safety of the boat.
“Once the crew had assisted the exhausted men aboard and got back into the boat themselves, Mark skilfully manoeuvred the D class lifeboat back out through the surf to the waiting Atlantic lifeboat.
“This was an arduous task, the boat was now heavy with five people aboard. The lifeboat filled with water as the first two waves broke over the boat. This made the handling of the lifeboat more difficult, especially as they hit the bigger swell outside the gully.
Helmsman Mark Morris used his skill and training, constantly assessing the sea and successfully punched through eight to ten waves before breaking free of the surf.”
The casualties were transferred aboard the Atlantic lifeboat and taken back to the lifeboat station. The D class lifeboat ensured that the surfer Mr Sommerville had safely left the scene before returning to the station.
The casualties had warm showers, hot drinks and were seen by paramedics. They had been cut off for about two hours and as well as hypothermia the two had suffered lacerations to their legs.
Gareth Horner, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Newquay, said: “The D class crew all did a first class job in very difficult conditions, had they not got these chaps out when they did the outcome may have been very different.”
