Mum and 5 year old rescued from quick sand at Blue Anchor Beach, Somerset
A
woman and her 5 year old daughter have been rescued from quicksand and an
incoming tide at Blue Anchor Beach this afternoon by coastguard rescue teams
and the coastguard helicopter Rescue 187. The woman called 999 and asked for
the Coastguard at 2.10 pm today (Saturday 8 February 2020), reporting that she
was stuck in the mud, with her 5 year old daughter in her arms. She had been
out walking her collie dog, who had safely made it to shore.
The
coastguard operations room at Milford Haven sent two coastguard
rescue teams from Watchet and Minehead, the coastguard helicopter and two RNLI
lifeboats from Minehead to the scene
. Within 15 minutes the teams were at the beach but by this time the woman was up to her waist in mud and up to her chest in water. The girl was taken from her mother’s arms by one of the coastguard rescue officers and brought to shore, whilst the mother was winched out of the mud by the helicopter, then taken to shore. Both were then handed into the care of the ambulance service, cold and shocked but otherwise uninjured.
“This
must have been a really frightening ordeal for the mother and child, but the
woman did exactly the right thing by calling 999 and asking for the
Coastguard,” says Neil Blewett, Aeronautical Operations Controller for HM
Coastguard. “We were able to get rescue resources out really quickly which was
lifesaving for this young family – the woman was up to her chest in water when
our teams arrived. Happily enough, our teams were able to locate them quickly
and extract them within minutes.
“If
you do get stuck in mud, try and spread your weight as much as possible and
call for help immediately, by calling the Coastguard on 999 or if you can’t get
to your mobile, shout for help. Before your set out, remember to check the tide
times – there are tide tables online - and leave plenty of time to get back
before the tide comes in.”