A primary school teacher from Plymouth has issued a stern warning about swimming safety after she witnessed a man almost drown in front of her at a busy beach.
Molly and her friends visited Bovisand Beach near Plymouth on Tuesday (August 26), planning to enjoy a dip in the sea. However, realising it was quite a windy day, she said the group quickly decided just to paddle their feet, or maybe venture in up to their waists.
Unfortunately, other beach-goers were not quite so cautious, and Molly described seeing a strong rip current from their vantage point on the shore, which multiple swimmers then got stuck in.
The term ‘rip current’ describes a powerful, localised rush of water that moves directly away from the shoreline by cutting through lines of breaking waves, like a river flowing out to sea. A rip current often looks calm or has fewer waves breaking, tricking people into thinking it’s safe.
Molly watched from the shore as a woman and her grandson paddled out towards the strong current before getting caught in it.
She said: “The woman tried to stay calm for the child, and she then called for help to her daughter on the shore. I swam out and pulled them out of the rip.”
Later, as Molly was getting ready to leave the beach, she said she saw more swimmers getting stuck, including a group of children with body boards who swam “straight into the rip”.
She said: “Most of them got out, but one boy was stuck about waist-deep. I tried to direct him and he managed to get out of the rip, but he was still too far out. His dad came and pulled him out of the water.”
And the situation worsened further when she then saw a father and son swim out to the same riptide that had been plaguing the beach all afternoon – and disappear under the water.
Not feeling confident enough to swim out again and rescue the pair herself, Molly shouted for someone to call 999 for the Coastguard, and asked if anyone was a strong swimmer.
An 81-year-old man nearby said he was, and swam out to pull the boy and his dad to safety. The father was unconscious when he was dragged out the water, and the boy was ‘in shock’.
Molly said: “By the time people got to the father he was face down and unconscious. It was very scary. No-one seemed to understand how serious it was.”
The emergency services arrived, and a spokesperson for HM Coastguard said the two people rescued were treated by the South Western Ambulance Service.
Meanwhile, Molly added: “Never be afraid to tell someone of the danger. Or presume they already know.”
Sharing the incident on Facebook, the teacher also offered the following advice about what to do if caught in a riptide:
- Stay calm – don’t panic.
- Don’t swim against it.
- Swim sideways (parallel to the beach) until you’re free, then head back to shore.
- If you can’t escape, float on your back and wave for help.
A spokesperson for the Coastguard said: “Plymouth and Yealm Coastguard Rescue Teams were sent to a report made at about 3.30pm on 26 August of two people brought out of the water at Bovisand beach. The people were passed into the care of South Western Ambulance Service.”
And an RNLI spokesperson added: “Off the back of Storm Erin, we have seen some unusually large swell build which has been made more dangerous by the current spring tides.
“The large influx of water coming into shore and rushing back out again has seen large rip currents form, and as a result has meant that many of our lifeguarded beaches were red flagged at the beginning of the week. We are expecting to see a brief lull in the conditions during the middle of this week, before large swell is predicted to return on Friday.
“We want to remind everyone visiting the coast to always choose a lifeguarded beach, between the operational hours of 10 am to 6pm, and follow the safety advice so you can enjoy the water safely.”
