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Published:
June 24, 2008
Mother
and daughter rescued from mudflats by Burnham hovercraft
 A
mother and daughter have been flown to safety onboard one of Burnham-On-Sea's
rescue hovercrafts after becoming stranded in an inflatable dinghy
on the mudflats at Uphill, near Weston-super-Mare, on Tuesday
(June 24th).
BARB,
the Burnham-based charity that operates two life-saving hovercrafts,
was called out by Weston Coastguards at 3pm after the pair were
spotted by the operators of Weston seafront's CCTV cameras 1,000
metres from the shore.
BARB's
Light Of Elizabeth hovercraft was sent to the scene and its crew
flew two Weston Coastguards out to the dinghy where the mother
and daughter were already showing signs of hypothermia.
"The
pair were shivering from the cold and were grateful to see us
arrive," said Burnham hovercraft pilot Pete Emery. "Within
minutes we flew them back to the shoreline where they were taken
to Weston General Hospital for treatment."
 The
pair, who are from the Weston area, had got into difficulty while
trying to sail from Uphill to Brean Down across the fast-flowing-waters
of the River Axe.
They
had become stuck on the mudflats when the falling tide pulled
their £5.99 dinghy downstream.
Steve
Perks, BARB's Operations Manager, said the organisation was happy
to help. "The Burnham hovercraft team reached the casualties
in Weston less than 30 minutes after we received the call in Burnham.
It was a very swift rescue."
Barry
Smith of Weston Coastguards added: "We were delighted to
work with BARB's hovercraft crew on another successful rescue."
BARB
is a 15-year-old charity run by a team of volunteers and is funded
by donations from the public.
The
damaged dinghy is pictured in front of the Burnham hovercraft
The
Light Of Elizabeth hovercraft flew out to the stranded pair
RELATED
LINKS:
BBC Online coverage of this incident
Burnham-On-Sea
Hovercraft Web site
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