Cowes lifeboat responds to late night river emergency
A woman with breathing difficulties aboard a motor-launch up the River Medina led to the launching of Cowes RNLI lifeboat late last night.
The 35-foot motor-launch was moored to an offshore pontoon near the Folly. Coastguards were alerted to the emergency through a 999 call, which appeared to suggest that the woman had lost consciousness. She was one of three people aboard at the time, one of them a child.
When the lifeboat arrived at the scene they found that paramedics were already on board the motor-launch, having been conveyed from their ambulance at the Folly by the vessel’s own RIB.
Eventually the woman, by then fully conscious, was conveyed ashore by the lifeboat and taken by ambulance to St Mary’s Hospital.
The lifeboat, which launched at 11.45 pm returned to station at 12.55 am.
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.