Man with dislocated hip thanks Teddington RNLI for rescuing him from his boat

Teddington Lifeboat Station had a big surprise at their regular Tuesday night training session last week when a man they rescued from his boat on the River Thames just a few days before turned up at the station to thank all the crew for their efforts on his behalf.

The surprise visitor was Barry Leader, who had suffered a dislocated hip while on his boat in Richmond, Surrey on Friday 19 January 2018 at 6:30pm.

At the time the pagers went off helm Jon Barker was in fact hosting a visit from the 2nd A Teddington Brownies at Teddington Lifeboat Station. All part of the outreach work that Teddington RNLI, in common with many lifeboat stations, do with the local community teaching them how to ‘Respect The Water’ and giving an insight into how the RNLI operates.

Jon said: 'We had about twenty people in the crew room at the time of the shout. I told them as part of our Health & Safety briefing that it the pager goes off please sit safely and quietly as we will need to respond to the shout. And no sooner had I said that than our pagers sounded. And we had no choice but to go at once and leave the Brownies and their leader with their juice and biscuits looking on astonished as our boats were quickly launched!'

'We were expertly tasked by Julian Knott, Teddington Lifeboat Deputy Launch Authority (DLA), who was in fact on his first shout as DLA. Julian sent us to deal with a male casualty with a dislocated hip near Glover’s Ait in Richmond.'

Teddington RNLI has two D-class inshore lifeboats, D-785 Peter Saw and D-743 Olwen and Tom. Peter Saw is currently being given a routine overhaul at Poole, so a relief boat has replaced it. Because of the nature of the incident, both lifeboats were launched immediately.

According to Jon: 'When the first boat arrived on scene, myself and our crew, Andy Cowell, Chris Gibson and Byron Thomas could see that Barry was in a lot of discomfort but was perfectly alert. It was a very cold dark night, so we had to move fast.'

As Jon added: 'We made the decision to maintain Barry in a seated position in his tender and tow the vessel to liaise with the emergency services rather than try any transfer on the water. Chris and Byron maintained a constant dialogue on the crossing over to the Richmond river-bank and Andy picked out the most suitable point at which to transfer Barry. This being the pontoon at the Richmond Canoe Club.'

Jon continued: 'Our second boat arrived with Helm Tim James and 2^nd Crew Daryn O’Connell to help with the transfer. We were all really pleased to see that Barry had not tried to navigate across the river before we arrived. He understands the water very well and despite his obvious pain he managed to maintain a very good spirit throughout.'

Jon also praised the work of the other services involved: 'The other emergency services were on scene extremely quickly and led by HART (London Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team), we managed to transfer Barry over safely to London Ambulance Service (LAS).'

And reflecting on Barry's visit to Teddington RNLI Lifeboat Station after the rescue, Jon said: 't was great to see him up and about the following Tuesday when he came to the Lifeboat Station to hand over a card of thanks. Good team work all round.'

Barry shared his story in his thank you card:

'While alone in my dinghy I suffered a dislocation of my left hip…I was in severe pain and what with a heart condition and at that moment in time suffering from a bout of positional vertigo I needed help.'

Barry was not surprisingly quite emotional about the rescue: 'Although accompanied by other boaters in their dinghies I needed urgent help and you were there when I most needed it. Thank you for turning out and putting up with me in a very professional and understanding way. I feel very humbled by the huge turn out of all the services that attended to my needs but so glad they all exist.'

A ‘Thank You’ like that makes the work we all do in the RNLI all worthwhile.

(See Barry’s full thank you card in the photo attached)

Photo of Crew and Barry courtesy of Sarah Kavanagh – daughter of Teddington RNLI Lifeboat Helm James Kavanagh)

RNLI media contacts

• Paul Stallard, Teddington RNLI Press Officer, 07879 810 817 / [email protected]
• Paul Dunt, RNLI Media Officer London/South East Tel: (0207) 6207426Mob: (07785) 296252/ [email protected]

• For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

For the latest RNLI news, photos and videos, visit the RNLI News Centre

www.rnli.org

Key facts about the RNLI

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is the charity that saves lives at sea. Our volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 238 lifeboat stations, including four along the River Thames and inland lifeboat stations at Loch Ness, Lough Derg, Enniskillen and Lough Ree. Additionally the RNLI has more than 1,000 lifeguards on over 240 beaches around the UK and operates a specialist flood rescue team, which can respond anywhere across the UK and Ireland when inland flooding puts lives at risk.

The RNLI relies on public donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. As a charity it is separate from, but works alongside, government-controlled and funded coastguard services. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 our lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved at least 140,000 lives. Volunteers make up 95% of the charity, including 4,600 volunteer lifeboat crew members and 3,000 volunteer shore crew. Additionally, tens of thousands of other dedicated volunteers raise funds and awareness, give safety advice, and help in our museums, shops and offices.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter 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 or by email.

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.