Woman plucked from sea in dinghy drama

SAM EMANUEL
26 July 2009 18:34



Lifeboat volunteers believe their prompt response prevented a fatality after they rescued a woman from a capsized dinghy at Bacton today .

The Mundesley inshore lifeboat was called shortly after 2.30pm when the upturned inflatable dingy was spotted about 300m (984ft) from the Bacton gas terminal.

Two children, a boy and a girl, had swum ashore but a woman, believed to be their mother, was in the water. The crew rescued her and took her ashore.

From there, she was taken by ambulance to hospital, suffering from hypothermia and the effects of seawater inhalation.

“It took eight minutes from us being paged to being on scene, and that's an outstandingly quick response,” said Nick Alexander, lifeboat coxswain.

“We're extremely proud of our response. If we hadn't got there so quickly there would have been a definite loss of life.”

He said the woman and children had gone out without any lifesaving equipment or means of communication, and praised a woman on the beach who raised the alarm.

“You don't got to sea in an inflatable with offshore winds - it's nuts,” he said.

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