Teens ‘lucky to be alive’
COASTGUARDS have said teenage boys photographed playing “chicken” with giant waves at Porthcawl are lucky to be alive.
COASTGUARDS have said teenage boys who were photographed playing “chicken” with giant waves at Porthcawl are lucky to be alive.
The pair were seen under a deluge of seawater as huge rollers hit the breakwater at the resort as it was getting dark.
Phil Norman, duty controller for the UK Coastguard, said: “The images of these young people dodging waves are alarming.
“The seas have been unforgiving this weekend and we cannot stress enough that piers, rocks, harbours and the water’s edge are not safe places to be when the weather is bad.
“Playing ‘chicken’ with waves is extremely dangerous.
“It can be slippery and because there is little to hold onto even a small wave can come out of nowhere and quickly wash you off and into the sea.
“These people are incredibly lucky to be alive.”
The Porthcawl breakwater with its Victorian lighthouse has become a big attraction when huge waves crash against it in stormy weather.
Eyewitness Elizabeth Moore, 54, said: “There were about 20 people watching the waves from a safe distance, it was getting dark and quite dramatic.
“But we were horrified when these young lads walked along the breakwater in such dangerous conditions.
“People were shouting at them to get back but they couldn’t hear because of the noise of the waves.”
Holidaymaker Mrs Moore said two other boys also joined in the game of chicken on Sunday night.
She added: “They were trying to get closer and closer to the point where the waves were hitting with the maximum force.
“I couldn’t watch at one point, I thought they were going to get swept away.
“They must have thought so too because they were clinging on to each other.”
The Porthcawl warnings came after a deadly weekend on Britain’s beaches. Three men, two women and a young child died in separate incidents on Saturday as unseasonably stormy weather blew in.
With a spell of hot weather expected to see temperatures climb this week – and fine weather forecast for the start of the bank holiday – the RNLI repeated warnings for those heading to the seaside.
A spokeswoman said: “With the weather due to get warmer and the bank holiday ahead, the RNLI would urge people to take care when near the coast and respect the water.”
She added: “Please visit lifeguarded beaches and swim between the red and yellow flags – the safe swim zone and the area watched by lifeguards.”
AN ELDERLY woman was rescued from the sea in Porthcawl after reportedly getting into difficulty in shallow water.
RNLI lifeguards from two beaches ran to help after they were alerted to a person in trouble halfway between Rest Bay and neighbouring Pink Bay at about 3.30pm last Tuesday.
Lifeguards Lewis Evans and Lauren Blake, from Rest Bay, and Dan Mohammed and Tom Davies, from Pink Bay, went to the woman’s aid carrying a trauma bag with a range of first aid equipment.
An RNLI spokesman said that by the time they arrived on scene, which was roughly halfway between the two beaches and around 500m from Rest Bay, the woman had been helped out of the water by a member of the public.
She was said to be conscious and breathing, but there was concern she had swallowed water so lifeguards immediately called for a medical evacuation.
The RNLI said its lifeguards administered oxygen to the woman and treated minor cuts to her legs, before the Coastguard Search and Rescue helicopter arrived to airlift her to hospital.
Also in attendance were Coastguard rescue teams and South Wales Police.
Matt Childs, RNLI lifeguard supervisor, said: “This was a multi-agency incident and our lifeguards worked well with other emergency service teams to help this woman. We hope she has a speedy recovery.”
Porthcawl Coastguard reported that they had been paged by the RNLI to a report “of an elderly lady with suspected secondary drowning and possibly fracture to leg”.
The Coastguard helicopter, based at St Athan, landed on the nearby golf course at the Royal Porthcawl Club.
South Wales Police said they were called at 3.50pm to assist with the landing of the helicopter.