It’s a wonderful lifeboat
50 years on, grandad tells his rescuers: I owe you everything
A GRANDAD has told a lifeboat crew who saved him in a gale 50 years ago: “I owe you everything.”
Martin Stephen, then 21, almost died when he jumped into the sea to try to rescue his cousin David Jeffrey, 11.
The boy had been swept off rocks at a harbour in a force 10 storm on December 23, 1970.
Martin was unconscious and sinking when RNLI lifeboat crewman David Brunton leapt into the water. Colleague Jonathan Alston also dived in.
The rest of the crew then hauled the three men on board and resuscitated Martin.
Tragically, the lifeboat could not find David’s body.
BRAVERY
As the 50th anniversary of the rescue nears, Martin, 71 a retired headteacher and writer, wrote to lifeboat coxswain Gary Fairbairn to thank the crew in Dunbar, East Lothian.
Martin, of Norfolk, said: “I’ve had 50 years of the happiest possible marriage, three sons and five grandchildren.
“I’ve been able to live a wonderful life, but only because of the bravery of one man, the skill of another and the dedication and courage of the crew of the Dunbar lifeboat.”
Martin was a student in Sheffield and his family were in Dunbar that year to spend Christmas with his aunt Maeve
LOVE
Jeffrey. The tragedy occurred when he and his cousins David and Angus, 14, went to watch waves as high as 33ft crash over the harbour wall.
Martin, who is married to Jenny, said: “A freak wave caught Davie and smashed him against rocks, knocking him into the water. I hadn’t realised he had been standing higher up on the rocks. I jumped in and managed to reach him. I held him in the rescue position but we kept going under. I think he was already dead.
“We were in a 10ft swell and kept going under. We were in the water for 10 minutes.”
He lost consciousness but
Angus raised the alarm and the lifeboat was launched in four minutes. Mr Brunton was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal for Gallantry and Mr Alston received the institution’s Thanks on Vellum.
Mr Brunton, who was one of six brothers to volunteer, has died, but Mr Fairbairn put
Martin in touch with his son Jamie, 61. The retired engineer said: “I’m very proud of my dad. I’ve very little memory of the day other than it wasn’t normal as Dad came home soaking.
“I don’t think I really understood the risks and how Dad had saved a man’s life at great risk to his own until Martin got in touch.” Martin said his aunt never blamed him, which was “one of the crucial things that allowed me to keep on living”.
Mr Fairbairn said: “It was such a wonderful letter to receive. It reminded the crew why we do what we do.”