St Ives volunteer lifeboat crew rescue unwell man in challenging conditions
St Ives all weather lifeboat Nora Stachura was launched on the morning of Saturday 7 April following a request from Portreath Coastguard cliff team to assist them in removing an unwell man from a vessel inside Portreath harbour.
St Ives lifeboat, under the command of coxwain Robert Cocking launched at 11.03am and headed towards Portreath arriving in 20 minutes.
The conditions inside Portreath harbour were challenging with seas being deflected from the harbour walls making the sea state unpredictable.
The coxwain put the lifeboat alongside the vessel and the casualty was assessed. A serious skin condition made handling the patient very difficult and in order to minimise any discomfort a stretcher was used to transfer the man to the St Ives lifeboat.
Once the casualty was secure the lifeboat made towards St Ives landing the man at Smeatons Pier at 12.16am where Cornwall Fire and Rescue first responders and an Ambulance was waiting. Following assessment the man chose to return home with a family member and was not admitted to hospital.
During the ‘service call’ debrief David Holland-Kemp was commended for his outstanding casualty care.
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