Chiswick Lifeboat assists a cyclist after 2m fall onto the foreshore
Just after 10pm on Sunday evening 22 July 2018, Chiswick Lifeboat was called to a report of an injured cyclist at Strand-on-the-Green near the Bull’s Head pub. On arrival they found that a woman on the foreshore had fallen two metres from the riverside path.
Chiswick lifeboat crew treated the cyclist for a head injury. Working with London Ambulance service paramedics the lifeboat crew transferred her onto a stretcher so she could be taken off the foreshore and transferred to the ambulance. The crew had to work rapidly as there was only one metre of foreshore left with a rapidly rising tide.
An RNLI spokesman said “We deal with a number of incidents each year where people have fallen some distance onto the foreshore with the possibility of spinal or head injury. The lifeboat is able to reach these casualties very quickly; in many cases the river wall is much higher than in this case and casualties are speedily evacuated in the lifeboat.”
Chiswick RNLI lifeboat station is the second busiest in the UK and Ireland. Since The RNLI search and rescue service on the Thames started in 2002, Chiswick Lifeboat has attended one 3,200 incidents and rescued over 1,620 people. The RNLI is entirely funded by public donations.
RNLI media contacts
- David Clarke RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer (Chiswick), 07951 21 0500 [email protected]
- Paul Dunt, RNLI Press Officer (London/East/South East) on 0207 6207416, 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.