Barmouth RNLI inshore lifeboat launched on Sunday 22 May in response to a call from HM Coastguard to a man who had fallen overboard from a small boat on the bar.
The volunteer crew were paged at 11.47am and launched the inshore lifeboat immediately.
The men, knew the area well and had left Fairbourne at 9am for a morning’s fishing in their 19ft vessel.They were returning home in force three to four south-westerly winds and on an ebb tide when the boat suddenly broached on the bar, throwing one of the men into the water.
His colleague took over the controls and tried to haul the man back aboard, but was hampered by the huge waves breaking in the shallow water.He struggled to try and steer the boat into calmer water, while still hanging on to his friend whose waist-high waders filled up with water and made the rescue even more difficult, but he was eventually dragged back into the boat.
Neither man was wearing a lifejacket.They were able to make their way back to Barmouth harbour to waiting members of HM Coastguard and where the Barmouth inshore lifeboat crew quickly administered first aid and gave the casualty oxygen until the NHS Ambulance arrived.
NHS Ambulance paramedics assessed the injured man who had suffered a blow to the head, was hypothermic and had swallowed a great deal of water. He was taken to Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth for further treatment.
But for the speedy intervention of the three emergency services, the outcome of this fishing trip might have been very different.
Notes to Editors
The images shows the inshore lifeboat and the fishing boat alongside the quay, with inshore lifeboat crew and ambulance personnel.
RNLI media contacts
For more information please contact Norma Stockford, Barmouth Lifeboat Press Officer on 07917 245882 or Chris Cousens, RNLI Press Officer, Wales and West, on 07748 265496 or 01745 585162 or by email on [email protected].
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
