Lifeguards rescue six more children from the sea at Ingoldmells beach

Beachgoers are being reminded about the dangers of strong currents at Ingoldmells beach after RNLI lifeguards rescued six children from the water yesterday.
RNLI Lifeguards Courtney Fear and Arun Gray. Image: RNLI.RNLI Lifeguards Courtney Fear and Arun Gray. Image: RNLI.
RNLI Lifeguards Courtney Fear and Arun Gray. Image: RNLI.

One young girl had swallowed water and was unconscious when she was pulled from the sea by her father.

The first incident saw two young body boarders being rescued by lifeguard Courtney Fear after they got caught in a rip tide out at sea.

Seeing them in danger, 25 year-old Courtney sprang into action on her body board and brought them both safely back to shore.

Then some 15 minutes later the lifeguards were alerted to a serious incident at a distance of 800m outside the lifeguarded area where a father was rescuing his four children from the water.

Speaking to the Standard, lifeguard supervisor Arun Gray explained: “Both Courtney and I ran to assist - there were two boys and two girls and the father had mananged to get all out the water by the time we arrived.

“They had all been swimming and had drifted into deeper water with the current and lost their footing.

“One of the girls had swallowed some water and was unconscious, but thankfully came round and was sick.”

The lifeguards provided medical attention to the children who were then checked over by the ambulance service.

Yesterday we published an article about RNLI lifeguard Janusz Burda saving an unconscious young boy from the water at Ingoldmells on Saturday - taking the number rescued there since the weekend to seven.

The RNLI lifeguards team are again reminding people to heed safety advice on the beach.

“It’s important that people only swim between the red and yellow flags which we put out every day,” explained Arun, 27.

“And if people have any concerns or questions they should speak to one of the lifeguards.”

RNLI lifeguard patrols operate between 10am-6pm daily, however some areas can have slightly different times, or weekend schedules. The RNLI urges the public to make sure that they are heading to a lifeguarded beach, by visiting their website.