Girl rescued from sea at Seaburn and taken to hospital after going missing

Sunderland RNLI’s volunteer crew were called out three times during the space of five hours, with two of the alerts raised about children who could not be found by their families.

Shortly before 5pm yesterday, Thursday, July 25, its inshore lifeboat was launched by the Coastguard following a report of a person in the water at Seaburn.

Information coming through two young girls had been shouting for help after getting into difficulty in the water beyond the area covered by the lifeguards.

Lifeguards Kieron Barraclough and Joe Promfret headed towards the direction of the distressed girls, while lifeguard Tom Hughes followed with a trauma bag.

Joe swam out towards the reported direction and Joe assisted on the rescue board.

The charity’s Rescue Water Craft (RWC) was also launched by Lifeguards Adam Blenkinsop and Sam Surtees.

They were then told a member of the public had managed to retrieve one girl from the water.

From the shore, the second girl was spotted floating calmly on her back approximately 200 metres from shore.

The lifeguards picked up the girl and brought her back to Seaburn beach to be assessed.

A spokesperson for the team said: “Our volunteers searched the area alongside our lifeguard colleagues using their jetski and thankfully the 11-year-old child was located by Sunderland Coastguard Rescue Team.

“The lifeguards and lifeboat crew recovered the child from the water and took her safely to the shore to the care of the waiting ambulance service on scene.”

RNLI Lifeguard supervisor Sandy Kerr said: “The young girls were obviously well educated on what to do if they got into difficulty in the water.

“If the second girl hadn’t followed the RNLI’s float to live advice the outcome of this incident could’ve been very different.

“We’re very thankful to all involved in the rescue and it’s a great example of the teamwork we carry out on a daily basis.

“At this time we’d like to remind people how important it is to swim between the red and yellow flags and to visit a lifeguarded beach.

“The young girls got caught in a rip current and the RNLI’s advice if you find yourself in this situation is to swim diagonal to the beach and to not swim against the current.”

The North East Ambulance Service confirmed it sent two Hazardous Area Response Teams (Hart) and a double-crewed ambulance to the scene and gave one person first aid and took an 11-year-old girl to Sunderland Royal Hospital.

The call out followed from another, also at Seaburn, earlier that afternoon, when a nine-year-old went missing at around 2.30pm. with the charity’s Atlantic 85 and inshore boat both launched.

After a search alongside their beach lifeguards, the message came through the child had been located safe and well.

Northumbria Police, Sunderland Coastguard Rescue Team and South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade have also been involved in searches after families became separated while out on the seafronts of South Shields and Sunderland during the hot weather.

At the close of the incident involving the 11-year-old girl, the crew was called to an incident on the River Wear and was stood down at 7.44pm.

The spokesperson added: “These events demonstrate the vital work our volunteer crews do at this busy time of year, working alongside colleagues from multiple agencies to ensure the safety of the public.

“Please stay safe around the coast during the summer holidays.

“If you or someone else is in trouble dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.”