Coastgaurds issues a warning about taking to the water at this time of year after a man has died yesterday trying to recover an inflatable dinghy which had blown offshore at Rhyl.
Holyhead Coastguard was alerted by a member of the public of who had seen the man enter the water.
It was established that the man in the water had launched a 14ft Avon inflatable dinghy which was subsequently blown offshore by strong south westerly winds. The man swam out to recover the vessel and was attempting to swim back to shore when the member of public, concerned for his safety, made the call.
Rhyl Coastguard Rescue Team went to the beach and the Rhyl Inshore Lifeboat was launched. The telephone informant was asked to advise the man in the water to come ashore and tell him that the lifeboat would recover his vessel.
When the lifeboat arrived at the beach the member of the public had entered the water and rescued the man, who had fallen unconscious. The Lifeboat team performed CPR on the casualty until the ambulance arrived, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Holyhead MRCC watch manager Barry Priddis said: “The casualty, a local man of 66 years of age, was attempting to recover an inflatable dinghy off the coast of Rhyl when he got into difficulties and was rescued by a member of the public. Sadly, despite the best efforts of the telephone informant and the rescue resources involved, the man was later pronounced deceased and we would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
“The man was not wearing a lifejacket nor sufficient protective clothing and therefore was not prepared for the water, which, at seven degrees Celsius would give only a 50% chance of life expectancy after 15-20 minutes.
“As this tragedy highlights, entering the sea in these conditions can be fatal, and cold shock can overcome even the fittest, strongest swimmers extremely quickly. Inflatables can be blown offshore even by light winds and our advice if you are faced with a similar situation is to contact the Coastguard by dialing 999 and not to put yourself in danger in an attempt to recover your vessel.”
