Jellyfish stings and kids blown out to sea prompt rescue operations in Cornwall

Children being blown out to sea on paddleboards, people and a dog cut off by the tide, and a bad reaction to a jellyfish sting - these were just a couple of many incidents one RNLI volunteer crew had to deal with in one day.

Sunday 25 July saw the busiest day for Looe RNLI since their lifeboat station was re-established in 1992.

Strong offshore winds resulted in six lifeboat shouts, with seven launches in total.

The crews barely had time for lunch after a busy morning responding to an emergency signal from a personal locator beacon before their next shout.

A 999 call to Falmouth coastguard alerted the team to three children/teenagers on paddle and body boards being blown out to sea at Millendreath. The Looe volunteers used their lifeboat to get the group back to safety.

Less than two hours later the crew was paged again to launch the lifeboat to investigate reports of one person on an inflatable dinghy being blown out to sea off Seaton.

Then a teenager called the station after suffering an adverse reaction to a jellyfish sting. A trauma nurse who was volunteering that day was able to help before ambulance paramedics arrived to help the boy.

While dealing with the two above ongoing incidents, a lady called at the lifeboat station concerned she was not able to see or contact her family who were on threestand-up paddleboards and a canoe. The crew launched their lifeboat and spotted the group, where they waited until everyone made it back to East Looe Beach.

To end the day, before returning to station a crew on the D-class lifeboat decided tocheck the coastline between Portnadler and Seaton. As they passed Millendreath they found two adults and a dog who had become cut off by the incoming spring tide.

The Lifeboat Operations Manager is asking everybody who uses the water to check tide times and be aware of the wind’s direction and strength.