Mother and daughter rescued by Seaburn lifeguards after current pulls them out to sea

A mother and daughter were rescued by lifeguards patrolling Seaburn after being caught in a rip current whilst bodyboarding.
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A young girl was bodyboarding in Seaburn at around 2.30pm on Wednesday, August 17 when she began to drift out to sea.

But when the mother went to pull her closer, the pair became caught in a rip current and were dragged 50m away from the shore.

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RNLI lifeguard David Batty was patrolling the beach between the red and yellow flags when a member of the public alerted him to the struggling pair.

A stock image of Seaburn Beach where the RNLI rescue took place.A stock image of Seaburn Beach where the RNLI rescue took place.
A stock image of Seaburn Beach where the RNLI rescue took place.

He sprang into action, running 100m up the beach where he entered the water with a rescue tube.

He swam out to the pair and towed them back onto the sandbanks. Luckily, neither of them had sustained any injuries.

Lead Lifeguard Supervisor Sean Mills said: “It was brilliant that they decided to visit a lifeguarded beach and swim between the red and yellow flags.

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"This mean as soon as they found themselves in trouble, one of our lifeguards was on hand to help.”

Just a week later, on Saturday, August 28 RNLI lifeguards at Seaburn prevented five casualties when they helped a group to return to the shore before they became trapped by the tide.

The five beachgoers had been climbing onto the steels – a band of rocks leading out to the sea – just as it was approaching high tide.

Lifeguards Thomas Wright and Kai Tate encouraged the group to return to shore and assisted the five across the rocks to safety.

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Their actions meant that nobody sustained any injuries, however, if it had been a mere ten minutes later, the group would be at least waist deep in water.

Lead Lifeguard Supervisor Sean Mills saidl “This may not seem like one of our major rescues, but the work of Thomas and Kai was extremely important.

“It is vital to research tide times and analyse any tidal cut off points before visiting a lifeguarded beach.

"The tide can very quickly come in and within minutes you can find yourself trapped.

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“Before visiting one of our lifeguarded beaches, ensure you are prepared by checking the weather and the tide times.”

For more information please visit: https://rnli.org/safety/beach-safety

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