30/07/2008

Teen's 'Lucky Escape' From Dorset Beach

Two teenagers who got into difficulty while swimming in the sea at a Dorset beauty spot have been saved.

The boy and girl were rescued on Studland beach, both suffering symptoms of hypothermia.

South West Ambulance contacted Portland Coastguard after receiving an emergency call from a member of the public on Tuesday evening.

The girl, 16, from Cambridge, was flown to Dorset County Hospital and the boy, also 16, to Poole Hospital.

It is understood the girl was "near to drowning" and the boy was "very cold".

A Portland Coastguard spokesman said that "two people were in the water in distress".

The spokesman said it had not been established what had happened to the pair: "What actually happened is still a bit of a mystery but it was a very lucky escape.

"It is quite dangerous in Lyme Bay, which tends to have steep-shelving pebble beaches," he said.

Earlier, it is reported that another 14-year-old swimmer had been caught in strong sea-swell off Seatown Beach, in west Dorset, shortly before 2pm.

While rescue attempts from members of the public failed, luckily a large wave washed the boy ashore.

Elsewhere, a female diver had to be rescued after becoming ill following a dive near Swanage on Tuesday afternoon.

The woman was flown to the recompression chamber at Pool by the coastguard rescue helicopter.

(DS)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

02 September 2003
Boy rescued from sea dies
The seven-year-old boy rescued after being swept away by rough seas while playing on a Dorset beach last week has died in his mother’s arms. Jack Shelton from Briscombe near Stroud in Gloucestershire had been paddling at the water's edge with his 11-year-old-sister when he got into trouble at around 11am last Thursday.
07 May 2008
Beauty Spot Landslide In Dorset
A landslide has ruined more than 400 metres of a world famous Dorset beauty spot. The area affected runs along the Jurassic Coast between Lyme Regis and Charmouth and is part of a World Heritage coastline. Experts were surveying the damage yesterday evening. Portland Coastguard were alerted to the landslide after several emergency calls.
27 November 2006
Search scaled down for missing Dorset boy
A search for a teenage boy missing since he and a friend capsized in a stolen rowing boat is being scaled down. Kyle Moore and his friend, both aged 14, are understood to have stolen the rowing boat from Portland Harbour in the early hours of Sunday morning.
29 August 2003
Postmortem on Dorset sea rescue tragedy victim
UPDATED: A postmortem examination is to be carried out on the man who died after an attempt to rescue a seven-year-old boy from rough seas off Chesil Beach in Dorset coast went tragically wrong.
29 July 2010
Teenager Drowns At Blackpool Beach
A 14-year-old boy has drowned off Blackpool beach. Liverpool Coastguard were called after two teenagers were spotted in trouble in the sea by Blackpool's Central Pier around 3:40pm yesterday.