RNLI Redcar and Hartlepool respond to incident
Date: 24/10/2011
Author: Dave Cocks, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer
RNLI lifeboats from Redcar and Hartlepool were launched this afternoon (Monday 24 October 2011) after a man was washed from a breakwater into heavy seas.
The alarm was raised just before 3.45pm by a member of the public who witnessed the man being washed from the South Gare breakwater by a large wave.
Volunteer crews from Redcar and Hartlepool lifeboat stations responded. The Redcar Atlantic 75 class lifeboat was on the scene within 15 minutes of the alarm being raised and, guided by the Cleveland police helicopter which was hovering overhead, the crew spotted the man very close to the breakwater wall.
Dave Cocks, RNLI Redcar, said: "Once our lifeboat was able to locate the man, the helmsman did a terrific job of manoeuvring the lifeboat in 10ft seas so that the crew could snatch the man into the lifeboat. Once he was aboard, the crew immediately started administering CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) while the lifeboat was taken into more sheltered water inside the mouth of the River Tees."
A crew member from the Hartlepool inshore lifeboat was transferred to the Redcar lifeboat to assist with the resuscitation efforts while the lifeboat proceeded to the entrance of Tees dock. There, a Sea King helicopter from RAF Leconfield winched up the man and transferred him to the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.
Dave Cocks, RNLI Redcar, said: "This was an extremely difficult rescue for the RNLI volunteers. There were very large waves breaking onto the sea wall, and the man was very close in. I’m very proud of the way the crews from Redcar and Hartlepool worked together."
hope the guy is ok
