Coastguard scoops stricken man from surging waves

Senior Coastal Operations Officer Ryan Gray

A man facing the threat of being dashed on the rocks by powerful waves was rescued by a coastguard who hauled him out of the surging water. 

The alarm was raised at about 9.45am at Skippingstone beach, Bangor, on 1 October when a member of the public reported their concern for a person they had spotted struggling on rocks being pounded by the sea. 

The 999 call was picked up at Belfast Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre which swiftly sent Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team (CRT) and the local RNLI inshore lifeboat. 

First on the scene was Senior Coastal Operations Officer Ryan Gray who, taking in the situation, quickly donned a personal floatation device attached to a line. 

As the sea surged, Ryan shouted a warning to the man before, seconds later, a wave picked the figure up and threw him to the shore. 

The powerful surge carried him up the beach where Ryan was able to step forward and seize him out of the foam before he could be dragged out.  

With the assistance of a passerby securely keeping hold of Ryan’s line, they pulled the casualty to safety, suffering just a few cuts and bruises. 

Ryan, who oversees CRTs at Bangor, Kilkeel, Lough Erne, Newcastle and Portaferry, said: “Speed was of the essence in this situation as the waves were strong enough to carry the man out to sea or severely hurt him on the rocks. 

“At HM Coastguard me and my teams train regularly for these types of incidents. Safely equipped, I was able to be in the right place at the right time to recover the man to dry land, with the help of a passerby.” 

Popular posts from this blog

Label your kit at the coast

Image
Kayaks. Canoes. Paddleboards. What do they all have in common? They’re quite often found on the coastline or drifting out to sea. And if we don’t know who they belong to, we can spend time searching for an owner when they’re home safe and sound. So please help us to help you. Label your kit so that if you do get separated from it, and it turns up somewhere, we can get hold of you. In recent weeks, our Coastguard Rescue Teams have found numerous items such as kayaks and canoes drifting out at sea or abandoned near the shoreline. Unfortunately, some of the items we have found have not had their owners’ contact details written on them nor been reported as missing to the Coastguard. As a result, it makes it difficult for us to find out who it belongs to and also means we can never be completely sure if someone is safe or in the worst case, in trouble at sea. This can place a huge strain on our resources especially during the busy summer period when we have to call upon our Coastgua
Read more

PRESTWICK SEARCH AND RESCUE HELICOPTER SERVICE LAUNCH MARKED IN CEREMONY

Image
- Prestwick search and rescue helicopter base set to go live in January - The launch of the Prestwick civilian UK search and rescue (SAR) helicopter service was marked today (Thursday 17 December 2015) in a ceremony held at the new Coastguard SAR base at Prestwick Airport. Bristow Helicopters Ltd is operating the search and rescue helicopter service for the UK on behalf of HM Coastguard. The UK limited company was awarded the ten-year UK SAR contract by the Department for Transport in March 2013, representing a £1.9bn investment by the UK Government in the UK’s search and rescue helicopter service. By 2017 the service will be delivered from ten bases in all, strategically located close to areas of high SAR incident rates. The Prestwick base will begin SAR operations when crews begin receiving taskings from the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) in January 2016. Bristow crews are delivering the UK SAR helicopter service on behalf of HM Coastguard with state-of-the-a
Read more

BOSCASTLE FLOODS: TEN YEARS ON

Image
Boscastle Flooding 16 th August 2004 The storms of Monday 16 August 2004 saw three weeks worth of rain fall in one day. The resulting water began to be funnelled down the valleys surrounding Boscastle and soon the steep roads became rivers. By the time that the water reached the picturesque village, it had picked up enough momentum to become a raging torrent, sweeping into buildings, washing cars away and felling huge trees. Graham King runs the Witches Museum in Boscastle and was also the station officer for the Boscastle Coastguard Rescue Team at the time of the floods: “ My museum is situated next to the harbour near the river ,” says Graham “ and I can see the coastguard equipment store from there. Initially I was concerned that the vehicle and equipment were going to become stranded but I soon began to realise how quickly the situation was deteriorating and called Falmouth Coastguard ” From that point on the villagers and tourists stranded in flood waters were he
Read more