Wells-next-the-Sea RNLI lifeboat acts as an ambulance to ferry injured woman
The crew of Wells RNLI inshore lifeboat used all their ingenuity to covert their lifeboat into a makeshift ambulance to transport in injured woman on a stretcher to safety.
It’s understood the woman, in her mid-50s, was out walking when she fell and suffered a broken shoulder and a dislocated knee. The accident happened at an area known as Titchwell Drain, about ¾ of a mile west of Brancaster Golf Club on the North Norfolk coast.
The paramedics were called and they treated her on site, giving her pain-killing drugs and gas, but the ambulance was unable to reach her because of the terrain.
As the tide was in, it made it possible to get to the site by sea, so the inshore lifeboat, which is a rigid inflatable, was called in. The crew launched at 12 midday on Saturday 28 May and arrived at the scene a short time later.
To make room for the stretcher on the lifeboat, one of the crew gave up his place and stayed behind. The woman was then ferried to the beach near the golf club and taken to the waiting ambulance by the paramedics, assisted by the crew and the local coastguard. The woman was taken in the ambulance to hospital.
RNLI media contacts
• John Mitchell, Wells-Next-the-Sea Volunteer Lifeboat Press 01328 710882 / 07831 103166 / [email protected]
• Tim Ash, RNLI Public Relations Manager (London/East/South East) 0207 6207426 / 07785 296252 [email protected]
• James Oxley, RNLI Press Officer (London/East/South East)
0207 6207425 / 07786 668825 / [email protected]
• For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789
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.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.