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August
19/20, 2004
Mark Caddick (30) and his son Matthew (8) from Walsall, near Birmingham, were spotted knee-deep in mud about three quarters of a mile from Brean Down.
The Mud Rescue Team were taken onboard the hovercraft to the rescue scene where they were dropped within a safe distance of the pair. The father and son were extracted from the mud and taken back to the safety of the beach where paramedics checked over them and deemed they were well. The pair had ignored warnings about the dangerous mud and walked out to the sea's edge with a dinghy, but after half a mile began sinking into the thick mud. Burnham-On-Sea RNLI's lifeboat was also launched and stood by during the incident, before taking members of the Mud Rescue Team back to Burnham.
A Swansea Coastguard spokeswoman praised the BARB hovercraft team, adding: "The hovercraft team did a superb job in conveying members of the Mud Rescue Team to the scene and taking the casulaties to safety." The Spirit of Lelaina hovercraft is named in memory of five year-old Lelaina Hall who tragically died in the mud on Berrow Sands two years ago.
The story hit the national headlines and brought huge publicity for BARB.
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Burnham-On-Sea's
hovercraft helped
avert tragedy near Brean Down
on Thursday August 19th when
a father (pictured below) and his son were plucked out of the dangerous
mud near the low water line.
The
hovercraft was launched from Burnham-On-Sea jetty and flew to the forward
control point at Brean beach where the Coastguard Mud Rescue Team were
waiting.
Alan
Miller, BARB hovercraft chairman, who was interviewed about the rescue
by several radio stations, newspapers and TV channels including the
BBC and ITV West (pictured), said: "The tide was beginning to come
in quickly so if the alarm had been raised 20 minutes later it would
have been a lot more serious. The two people were completely unaware
of the danger they were in."
Update: The father and son were rescued for the second time in 24 hours
- this time by the Weston-Super-Mare RNLI Lifeboat. On Friday August
20th at 14:00, they were saved after drifting out to sea in an inflatable
dinghy near Weston bay. Helen
Hutson, coastguard watch manager said: "It is regrettable that
they have not taken on board our safety advice." She added: "We
are somewhat surprised that having lost one dinghy in a very dangerous
situation, the man acquired another and set out to sea."