Information from Redcar RNLI A father and son had lucky escapes when a freak engine accident threw the pair into the sea from their fishing boat on Saturday 14 June 2014. The men were fishing off Redcar when their craft’s outboard engine broke down. While there were attempting to fix it, the engine restarted, in gear and set to full speed. That immediately threw both men into the sea. The fishing boat then circled the two men for 40 minutes until it ran out of fuel. The younger man, believed to be in his 20s, was then able to climb back into the boat and send out a Mayday distress call at around 12.30pm. Meanwhile his father had been carried nearly a quarter of mile away from the boat by the tide. The Redcar RNLI lifeboat was immediately tasked. As it was proceeding, a nearby fishing boat, with RNLI volunteer Cameron Bond and his son Jordan on board, also responded to the Mayday. Cameron found the man in the water about 300 yards away from his boat. Cameron Bond said: ‘When we pulled the man from the sea he was shaking violently and he couldn’t speak. ‘I knew from my RNLI training that I had to get the guy back to the beach as fast as I could so the crew from the lifeboat station could give him first aid.’ When Cameron arrived back at the beach at Redcar, RNLI crew members were waiting to give the man first aid before carrying him to an ambulance. Meanwhile the Redcar lifeboat had arrived at the scene of the accident. The lifeboat crew found the man on board the boat was also suffering from the effects of being in the sea. He was taken on board the lifeboat and given first aid while the lifeboat made full-speed for the lifeboat station. He was also taken to the ambulance where both men were treated by ambulance staff before being transferred to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. The Redcar lifeboat then returned again to the scene to tow the fishing boat back to Redcar where lifeboat volunteers made the boat safe on its trailer. Dave Cocks from Redcar RNLI said: ‘The two men have had an extremely lucky escape. There have been some tragic accidents involving boats when people are thrown into the sea and the boat’s engine keeps going. ‘It was extremely fortunate that one of our own lifeboat crew members was at sea fishing when the Mayday went out. He was quickly on scene to rescue the man from the water, otherwise it could have been tragic. ‘When the lifeboat got there they were able to give the other man the first aid he needed while he was being brought back to the beach at Redcar. ‘Both men really owe a lot to the RNLI’s training on this occasion.’
Posted on: Sat, 14 Jun 2014 18:52:59 +0000