JOE ROWLANDS

Teenager Of Courage

Saved his dad’s life after their kayak capsized in icy seas, dragging him to safety from the water and carrying out CPR

ON February 22, Joe, then 13, and his dad Paul, 51, took their kayak out for a paddle off Anglesey in North Wales. They were about a mile out when the kayak capsized.

Paul told Joe to sit on the upturned vessel as he tried to “kick it like a float” toward a tiny island, Ynys Dulas.

After struggling in the water for 30 minutes, Paul realised their best chance of survival was to swim for it. Fearing for their lives, Joe held his dad tightly. Paul says: “Joe was very upset and said: ‘If we are going to die, can we please have a kiss?’.

So, I gave him a kiss, and said: ‘We need to go now, son…’”

Joe managed to reach a cluster of rocks but after so long in the icy water, Paul developed hypothermia and lost consciousness.

Risking his life, Joe dived into the sea and dragged his father on to the rocks. He performed CPR and mouth-to-mouth until Paul came round.

Using all his strength, and despite having badly cut feet, Joe then hauled his dad on to his back and hoisted him 200m up a rocky incline to safety.

Finally, two and a half hours later, they were rescued by the RNLI.

A member of the lifeboat crew says: “If Joe hadn’t been as strong as he was, Paul wouldn’t be around.”

Paul, a fire chief in Cheshire, says: “He acted with courage beyond his years”.