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A man was rescued from a sandbank off Leasowe after becoming stranded by the rising tide during a late-night emergency last night.
According to the Wirral Globe, Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team was called to reports that the man was cut off by the incoming water. Officers arrived and spoke with his family before spotting him around 500 metres offshore, visible only by the light of his torch.
The man was speaking on a 999 call with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, who reassured him and talked him through what's known as the #FloatToLive technique as the tide reached chest height. If you're wondering, this advice instructs a person to tilt their head back with their ears submerged, while relaxing and controlling their breathing, and then moving their hands and legs gently in order to stay afloat.
Teams from New Brighton and Hoylake RNLI were deployed to the scene, but the first to arrive was the Hoylake hovercraft arriving first.
Crews found the man by using a powerful searchlight from the shore to illuminate his location in the water. Meanwhile, the Coastguard Officer guided the hovercraft to him via radio.
Thankfully, the man was rescued and was greeted by a Coastguard ambulance team. He was checked in hospital for any injuries.
A spokesman for Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team said in a statement: "A huge thank you to the casualty's family, who remained calm, followed our advice and allowed emergency services to carry out the rescue safely."
The spokesperson also called the collaboration between the coastguard and RNLI an "excellent example [of teamwork]." They also emphasised the importance of the #FloatToLive message. The hashtag and campaign derived from the RNLI's 2013 Respect The Water campaign, which urged people to float rather than immediately swim if they were in danger. This evolved into a campaign that emphasised floating as the best measure to take, to let the effects of cold water pass until they could comfortably breathe or swim again to reach help.
