Father and two daughters airlifted to hospital after being pulled from sea

A father and his two daughters were airlifted to hospital to cap off an extremely busy day for coastguard rescuers on the hottest day of the year. Picture: Supplied (Image: Archant)

Bacton Coastguard were called to an incident where three people had been pulled from the sea on Mundesley beach at 7.44pm on Friday.

Three community first responders were already dealing with the casualties but due to their condition, it was decided they needed to be flown to hospital.

Coastguard Rescue 912 from Humberside and Mundesley independent lifeboat were called to help move the casualties.

By the time the coastguard helicopter landed, two ambulance crews, East Anglian Air Ambulance doctors and NARS were also on scene.

A father and his two daughters were airlifted to hospital to cap off an extremely busy day for coastguard rescuers on the hottest day of the year. Picture: Bacton Coastguard (Image: Archant)

The adult casualty was stretchered into the helicopter by the Bacton crew and his two daughters walked into the helicopter.

A spokesperson from Bacton lifeboat said: “Thank you to all the services that took part in this multi-agency operation and wish the casualties a speedy recovery.”

Earlier in the day, the same team were paged to Mundesley beach at 11.34am, after a 13-year-old boy was caught in a rip current.

The boy was swimming when he was taken 500 metres along the coast.

Fortunately Jake from Glide Surf club spotted him and swam out to rescue him and on the beach were two coastguard team members with their family who also helped.

The team gave first aid and were then alerted to a surfer who had been smashed against the groynes and received multiple cuts and grazes.

Once the ambulance service was on scene one casualty was taken to hospital and the other was treated for their cuts but allowed to carry on their day on the beach.

Ten minutes earlier, Bacton were also called to six people who were cut off by the tide at Winterton Beach.

Winterton CRT and Hemsby lifeboat were also tasked to the incident, where all six people were safely returned to the beach.

A spokesperson from HM Coastguard Bacton said: “While travelling back to the station we visited Sea Palling and spotted multiple people on the reefs cut off by the in coming tide.

“The team used a loud megaphone to get people off the rocks and then helped them through the water and away from danger.”

Later in the day at 3.30pm, the team were paged to Winterton beach to a missing five-year-old.

While on route, the team were stood down as the family had found the child.

In Wells, 11 people were also rescued after being cut off by the tide.

Meanwhile, nationally HM Coastguard dealt with more than 300 incidents on Friday – the most in one day for more than four years.

The total number of incidents for the whole of the UK were 329, with 232 callouts for coastguard rescue teams. Lifeboats – both RNLI and independent were called out 129 times, aircraft were sent out 22 times and hovercraft, three.

There was a high number of incidents involving people cut off by the tide and reports of missing children, as well as swimmers and paddleboarders getting into difficulty.

Call outs were heaviest in England, along the east and south coast and the north west. The area around Liverpool and the Wirral saw the most reported incidents at 26. The coast along Essex and Kent saw a total of 45 incidents and the coastline between Flamborough and Cromer, 22.

Julie-Anne Wood, Duty Operations Director for HM Coastguard said: “Yesterday was a beautiful day weather wise in much of the UK. It was less beautiful a day for those who got themselves into trouble and had to be rescued. Some people will remember July 31 for all the wrong reasons.

“We completely understand that people want to enjoy the coast. We also know that even the most experienced swimmer, paddleboarder and walker can be caught out by currents and tides respectively. We’re heading into some more good weather and we would really ask you to check and double check the tide times – put a timer warning on a smartphone to remind you - be aware of things like rip currents, and make sure you have a means of contacting us if things do go wrong.

“As the figures show, we’ll always respond when someone calls 999 and asks for the Coastguard, we’ll always answer distress on VHF and we’ll always do everything we can to rescue those in need. All we ask in return is that you take extra care at the coast – it can be unmerciful to the unwary and even to those who know it well.”