Brother and sister saved from drowning by lifeguards

A young brother and his sister have been pulled to safety by lifeguards after nearly drowning in Cornwall.

The pair were trying to get back to the main beach at Crantock after being cut off by the tide.

The six-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister were lucky that RNLI lifeguard supervisor John Steadman saw them get into trouble in the water as it happened. He explains:

"I was preparing to go out on the rescue board on a roving patrol of the bathing area when I spotted two young children. I could see they were about to cross the river in the deepest spot, they were about 25 metres away from me and I shouted to warn them not to cross there. Unfortunately they continued to jump in. The younger brother Adam immediately went under the water and his sister, Rachel was trying to keep him up and shouting for help."

Immediately John jumped in after them.

"It was even deeper than I had anticipated. I couldn’t touch the bottom either and was treading water holding both their heads above the surface until my colleague RNLI lifeguard Mark Ebbage was able to reach us on a rescue board. He pulled them onto the rescue board and paddled them over to the beach where we were joined by their worried parents.

"It was a very scary experience for both of them. They were lucky that the lifeguards were on patrol and saw the incident happen in front of me. Rachel, who is only 12 was extremely brave, and did a great job to support her brother and call for help."

The incident happened at around 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon as the tide was coming in. The lifeguards checked the children and reunited them with their parents. The family were on holiday from Glasgow.

Why is Crantock dangerous?The river at Crantock flows parallel to the beach. As the tide comes in, the river starts to fill up behind bathers, leaving a sand bar between the sea and the river. This means bathers have to wade back through the river to return to the main part of the beach.