Lowestoft RNLI lifeboat called to help a sick sailor on a Belgian yacht
A lifeboat crew from Lowestoft was called out to assist a sailor, who had suffered a medical emergency aboard a Belgian yacht.
The Lowestoft RNLI relief lifeboat, RNLB Cosandra, was tasked with going to the aid of a casualty aboard a Belgian yacht, which was 26-miles offshore.
The 20m twin masted sailing yacht was on its way from the Netherlands to the Faroe Islands when it requested help.
Lowestoft Lifeboat Coxswain John Fox said: “We were called out at 7.17am (on Monday 10th September) to a yachtsman who was suffering medical problems whilst at sea. A doctor – who had spoken to the yacht crew – decided the symptoms were not suitable for the man to be airlifted by helicopter and suggested that a lifeboat was launched to bring him ashore for treatment.
“When the lifeboat reached the yacht, sea conditions were ‘quite bumpy’ but with assistance from lifeboat crew members the man was able to step across from the yacht onto the lifeboat. A nurse who was also on the yacht accompanied the man and we sped back to harbour with the pair, arriving about 9.30am to be met by an ambulance crew and coastguard rescue team.”
The man subsequently walked to the waiting ambulance and was taken to hospital.
This was the second call-out in quick succession for the lifeboat crew, with the relief lifeboat called out just before 3.20pm the previous afternoon following reports that a speedboat had ran aground on a sandbank close to Claremont Pier in Lowestoft.
But as the lifeboat launched to go to the aid of the two people on board the speedboat, a jet ski that was nearby helped out and managed to get the speedboat off the sandbank.
The lifeboat crewmembers checked that the two people aboard the speedboat were “safe and well,” before returning to station.
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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.
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