THREE MEN IN A BOAT SAVED BY LIFEJACKETS

Three men were kept afloat by their lifejackets for an hour and a half last night off the coast of Bradwell after falling out of their 8ft angling boat – with the alarm raised when members of the public heard their cries for help from the shore.

The three men, aged between 45 and 60, had boarded the small boat earlier in the evening to go angling on the river Blackwater.  However, when one of the men cast his rod into the water it capsized the boat and knocked all three into the water, leaving them gripping to the side of the boat and drifting on the out going tide.  At 10.00pm their cries for help yielded several 999 calls from members of the public to Thames Coastguard, who sent the rescue helicopter from RAF Wattisham, requested the launch of the West Mersea RNLI lifeboat, and sent the Bradwell Coastguard Rescue Team to the scene.  At 10.20 pm the coastguard rescue team spotted the dinghy from the shoreline and the lifeboat picked the three men up and brought them back ashore, where they were met by an ambulance and given medical attention.

Thames Coastguard Watch Manager Aimee Rampton said:

“The three men had been in the water for an hour and a half and had drifted a quarter of a mile out to sea when they were picked up by the lifeboat.  Had it not been for their lifejackets keeping them afloat whilst they clung to the boat and shouted for help, this story could have had a very different ending.”

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