Newquay RNLI crew scrambled twice before dawn to save man and dog

Some shifts end with the volunteers barely getting their heads back on the pillow. In the small hours of Wednesday 15 July, Newquay’s lifeboat crew were called out, stood down, sent home, and then called straight back again for a rescue that ended with a man pulled cold and shaken from the harbour water, and his dog waiting for him.

A call, a cancellation, and a second page

Newquay RNLI volunteers were paged at 3.31am. Falmouth Coastguard had asked for the charity’s Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat to launch and join a search for a missing person thought to be in the water at Holywell Bay.

Eight minutes later, with the crew only starting to gather, a cancel page came through. The person had been found safe ashore.

So the volunteers closed up the boathouse and set off home, back towards bed. At 3.53am, just as most were walking back through their front doors, a second page landed. This one was an immediate launch.

Trouble at the harbour

A man and his dog had got into difficulty in the water at Newquay harbour.

As the crew arrived back at the station, the casualty could be heard shouting for help. A local fisherman, who had raised the alarm, could see the man and his dog clinging to his boat.

The boat crew pulled on their PPE and the casualty was picked out by the tractor headlights and the shore crew’s searchlights. He was in significant distress and not far from the shore, among several moored boats. As the D Class was going into the water, lifeboat crew reached the man and helped him to shore and into the safety of the lifeboat station.

Cold, shocked, and reunited with his dog

Newquay Coastguard Search and Rescue Team had arrived by this point, and a trained paramedic monitored the casualty. After time in the water he was severely cold and shocked. He was taken to hospital by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust for further assessment.

The man and his dog were reunited later that morning. He sent his thanks to the crew for saving his life and taking care of his dog.

As for the volunteers, they watched the sun come up at 4.51am, weighing up whether it was worth going back to bed or just getting on with another beautiful day.

📷Stock Photo