Family plucked to safety in Seaham beach drama

Nov 17 2008 by Richard Fletcher, The Journal

A COUPLE and their 11-month- old baby were at the centre of a dramatic rescue effort last night after the onrushing tide cut them off during a beach walk.

An RAF helicopter, the coastguard, two lifeboats and a cliff rescue team pulled the family and their two dogs to safety as water lapped around their feet near Seaham, County Durham.

Conditions were so bad that a lifeboat also got stuck, and fellow crews battled in the dark to rescue them from the difficult sea swell.

The father, 37, who did not wish to be named, last night paid tribute to those involved in the rescue.

"We made a mistake and got trapped," he said. "I’m really thankful to the life-

boats and coastguard for saving the lives of my family."

The family, from Trimdon, County Durham, became trapped on the beach three-quarters of a mile north of Seaham at 3.45pm yesterday and the father called 999 from his mobile phone as the tide cut them off.

Two lifeboats arrived from Sunderland along with the coastguard from Seaham, but the high tide and difficult conditions made it impossible to reach the family.

Cliff rescue teams then sprang into action while the coastguard called for an RAF helicopter, which flew from Aberdeen to help in the dramatic rescue attempt as no others were available.

The rescue teams made sure the family were safely perched away from the water before pulling the mother, also 37, up the cliff. The helicopter then went overhead and rescued the father, baby and two dogs, a black Labrador and a Jack Russell.

Tyne-Tees coastguard sector manager Greg Albrighton, who controlled the rescue from the cliff top, said: "Darkness came in very quickly. The surf was pounding against the bottom of the cliffs – that’s where the urgency was. When our two guys got down there they were being knocked around.

"After a short while we managed to get the woman by the rope rescue team, which was difficult. It was a steep mud slide.

"Trying to bring a helpless baby up a cliff face is difficult and the child was starting to be distressed. The helicopter was 15 minutes away and we calculated we could wait.

"It was a fantastic piece of airmanship – I was standing on the cliff eight metres from the pilot’s face. We could almost step into the helicopter."

He praised the mother for staying calm in the face of the emergency. The family was later taken by waiting ambulance to hospital.

But the danger was not over as one of the inshore lifeboats from Sunderland got dragged on to the beach by the swell.

Another lifeboat, from Hartlepool, spent five hours braving the treacherous conditions to help rescue their Sunderland colleagues, whose boat floated clear as the tide started to recede.

Mr Albrighton said the rescue teams were excellent, but issued advice to other beach walkers.

"Know where you are going, check the tides and know you can get off the beach," he said. "Where there are cliffs there are cut-off points, and the tide comes in behind you."