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Rhyl RNLI lifeboat on scene as poorly fisherman is airlifted to hospital

Lifeboats News Release

The volunteer crew of Rhyl's All-weather lifeboat, were paged at 11.21am on Saturday 13 May.

taken from Rhyl lifeboat, standing by casualty

RNLI/Rhyl lifeboat

Casualty being winched from Iceni Valour off Prestatyn
The skipper of the local sports fishing boat 'Merlin' from Rhyl, reported a sick passenger on board his boat, some 5 miles off Rhyl. He immediately put out a 'Mayday' call for assistance, which was received by the Coastguard co-ordinating centre at Holyhead, who paged Rhyl lifeboat crew, and asked for helicopter assistance from the coastguard helicopter base at Caernarvon airport. A local windfarm support boat 'Iceni Valour' also responded to the Mayday, and was on scene first. The sick person was transferred to the Iceni boat, as there was more room on the deck for a casualty transfer to the helicopter.
Rhyl lifeboat arrived on scene and transferred a crew member on to the 'Iceni Valour' to assist the winchman prepare the casualty for lifting into the helicopter.
This was completed successfully and the casualty was flown to Bangor hospital for treatment.
The crew member was transferred back to the lifeboat; the Iceni boat returned to windfarm duties; and the lifeboat returned to station at 12.40pm.
Track of Rhyl Lifeboat 20230513

RNLI/Rhyl lifeboat

Track of Rhyl Lifeboat 20230513

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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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