FATHER AND DAUGHTER GO INTO WATER TO RESCUE DOG

Just after today, Solent Coastguard received a telephone call to report two people in the water, opposite the Queens Hotel on Brighton seafront. Both people, a young 13 year old female and her father had been attempting to retrieve their Jack Russell dog.

The Coastguard helicopter based at Lee on Solent was immediately scrambled and the Brighton RNLI inshore lifeboat was asked to launch, and the Shoreham Coastguard Rescue Team were immediately sent to the area. An ambulance was already on scene. They were joined by Bright beach office staff.

The sea conditions were still rough from an overnight gale, although the winds were decreasing.

Fairly soon after the girl was recovered from the water to the ambulance whilst the second person was spotted about 30 metres offshore near the pier.

As the man had been washed through the end of the pier it took a short while for the inshore lifeboat to recover him due to the conditions near the pier, and he was then airlifted after being winched into the helicopter from the lifeboat to a hospital landing site before being rushed to the Royal Sussex Hospital.

Colin Griffiths, Duty Watch Manager at Solent Coastguard said

“This is a tragic story for the family. Dogs will generally eventually return to their owners after a swim and it is certainly not worth the risk, paid as a heavy price today, for individuals to go into seas of temperatures generally at about 4 to 5 degrees Celsius this time of year. Hypothermia and cold shock will set in very, very quickly and survivability is slim.”

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