Mother and child rescued after drifting out to sea in Sunderland

A mother and her 8-year-old child have been rescued off the coast of Seaburn in Sunderland after drifting out to sea on an inflatable paddleboard.

The charity’s lifeguards Adam Blenkinsop and Andrew Brown were in the sea training when they got the call out at 12.20pm on Thursday afternoon (8th August).

Adam and Andrew launched their Rescue Water Craft (RWC), while their colleague Tom Hughes paddled out with a rescue board.

The mother and child had been blown some 400 metres out to sea by the wind, and were struggling to make it back to shore.

Both were rescued by the RNLI crew and returned to the beach unharmed.

The RNLI advises that blow-up toys and inflatables are designed for pools, not the sea where they can easily be swept out. If you do use them at the beach, then:

• ensure children are closely supervised

• keep near the shore

• only use between the red and yellow beach flags

• follow the lifeguard’s advice

• do not take inflatables out in big waves

• never use them when the orange windsock is flying, as this indicates offshore winds which will blow inflatables further out to sea

• if you do get into difficulty, then stay with your inflatable as it will keep you above the water.