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Terrifying ordeal for three
children
29.07.08
"Distressed" kids
rescued on Lough Swilly
THREE children had a terrifying ordeal on Lough
Swilly at the weekend when their boat drifted around
1.5 miles out to sea.
The children, who were not wearing lifejackets,
launched their canoe at Stragill beach on Saturday
evening but subsequently got into difficulty when
they lost their paddle and began coasting rapidly
towards Dunree.
The alarm was raised by their parents and Lough
Swilly RNLI was immediately tasked to the scene by
Malin Head Coast Guard, arriving two minutes later
around 8pm from their base at Ned's Point. |
Lough Swilly RNLI
spokesperson Joe Joyce said the children were in a
distressed state when the crew of the Atlantic 85
reached them.
"They were cold and distressed and were taken on
board and wrapped in tin foil space blankets to warm
them up. They were later reunited with their parents
at Stragill," said Mr Joyce.
He said what started out as |
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a lark by the beach
could have ended in a more serious incident.
"These children probably misjudged the distance to
the shore which is a very easy thing to do in the
water, but they did the right thing by staying with
their boat and not jumping into to water and trying
to swim back to shore," he added.
Coxswain Mark Barnett added: “The good weather on
Saturday brought a lot of people on to the water.
This was our fourth incident of the day and
thankfully it ended safe and well.
"There is always a danger that people will take
matters into their own hands and endanger themselves
further rather than contact the relevant emergency
services.”
Meanwhile, the crew urged everyone using sea-going
vessels to wear lifejackets at all times on the
water.
Earlier on Saturday, the same lifeboat responded to
requests for assistance from three other vessels
that had got into difficulty on what was the first
day of summer weather since late May.
These incidents all involved towing vessels with
mechanical difficulties back to their moorings or
berths. |
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