Jet skiers recall rescue in advert

Ben Thomson and Gavin Smith close to death

Two jet skiers who were saved from death after hours stranded at sea are fronting a new awareness campaign from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

In the video, Gavin Smith recounts the perilous position he and Ben Thomson were in back in November 2012, when their respective vessels stalled within seconds of each other and capsized under turbulent icy waters in the Tay estuary.

The pair sang nursery rhymes their children had composed as they clung to each other off the east coast.

A passing helicopter gave them hope, though it flew directly overhead and missed them on its first pass.

“We were in the water for about four hours by that time; hypothermia was starting to set in,” Ben said.

“Eventually, Gav said ‘I can see a light.’ I said get that whistle and blow it as hard as you can. He took it out but he didn’t even have the energy to blow it. So I took it and blew.”

“All I heard over the loud hailer was ‘boys, we can hear you but we can’t see you, you have to keep whistling. Again, I blew as hard as I could until the lifeboat turned up. It was out of this world. Fantastic.”

Ben has since gone on to volunteer for the institution. “I don’t know how to give back to someone who saves your life. Now I’m going to give them as much as I can in the way of my time and volunteer for the crew.”

The RNLI campaign is aimed at getting the public to ‘opt in’ to contact with the charity following a change in rules for contact.

By visiting the RNLI website users will be able to tick a box saying they will be happy to receive post, email and phone messages.

Ben said: “If it wasn’t for the RNLI, I wouldn’t be here today. With one tick, you could be here for them too.”

Above: Ben Thomson. Above right: Gavin Smith and Ben Thomson with crew members from Arbroath who took part in their 2012 rescue.