Cleethorpes coastguards hurry to find and free a woman stuck up to her thighs in mud as the tide comes in. In the Lake District, an HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter crew avoids RAF fighter jets as they go to the aid of a man injured in a fall. And on the west coast of Scotland, a paddleboarder is minutes from being swept away by rough seas.
Body boarder Brian Bennett has been swept onto a rock at Wigtown Bay, on the west coast of Scotland, where he is now trapped by the waves and the tide is rapidly rising.
The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Caernarfon flies to the scene and lifts Brian to safety with minutes to spare.
Brian said: “I was faced with just trying to stay put and to not get washed off. But I just felt completely powerless. I could see my wife – I thought it was going to be the last time I saw her. Where I was, the waves were right over it 10-15 minutes later.
“It’s hard to find some way to express what it means. I have written and thanked them but that seems so small compared to what they did that day. I try not to think about what would have happened if they had not got me off the rocks. It does not bear thinking about. It just does not bear thinking about.”
Winch paramedic Chris Bradshaw said: “The weather around the UK coastline is unpredictable even in the summer. I think people can and do underestimate the tide and speed at which the environment you’re in changes.
“What is a nice day out can turn into an emergency fairly quickly.”
Find out more about vacancies at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency or becoming a volunteer coastguard rescue officer.
Coastguard airs on Wednesdays at 9pm on Channel 5. Find out more about each episode so far.
