Our hearts go out to sea tragedy family
The terrible scene at Aberdeen Beach last weekend.
What happened to Lucas and Julie (above) brought back painful memories for Katie-Lou’s parents, Andy and Nikki (left). says right now is of any comfort. We would just say, know that people are thinking of you and care for you.”
Last week Julie’s family thanked members of the public for their help as well as the efforts of the emergency services.
In total 11 people were killed in coastal accidents in Britain last week.
On Friday August 19, a father and his two-year-old daughter were killed in Newquay, Cornwall, after they were swept out to sea. The next day a man in his 50s drowned at Sandbanks while a 57- year- old man died while windsurfing off West Mersea, Essex.
Then on Wednesday five men died in the water at Camber Sands, East Sussex.
Andy said the families of those affected would struggle to come to terms with what’s happened.
He said: “Every time we hear of a drowning or near- drowning our hearts sink. It’s desperately sad for the families and we know its such a hard thing to try to comprehend.
“Our lives and Katie-Lou’s life has changed drastically since the accident. She requires 24/7 care.
“We are very lucky in that we still have our girl but are devastated that her future is not going to be as we hoped for her.”
After Katie- Lou’s accident liferings were installed at Eyemouth.
Her parents have said that if they had been in place at the time she may have been rescued earlier and not suffered brain damage.
Since her accident they said they had also discovered there was “very little legislation concerning risk assessments for public beaches”.
They also said there is no legal obligation to provide a minimum level of life-saving equipment.
The couple petitioned the Government to change the law to make it a legal obligation for public beach operators to conduct risk assessments. They also called upon the Government to make it a legal obligation for public beach operators to provide a minimum level of life-saving equipment regardless of risk outlined in the risk assessment.
Andy said: “I would urge people to take note of whether their local beach has adequate safety signage and equipment and, if not, to contact their local council about it.
“I think it’s even more important that people respect the sea’s potential dangers.” THE Royal National Lifeboat Institution has said it hopes to have more lifeguards on Scotland’s beaches in future.
However, the charity said it had no plans to introduce more lifeguards “in the short term”.
The RNLI said it operated in partnership with the owners of a beach, normally a local council, and carried out risk assessments of beaches and presented its findings to the relevant council.
A spokesman said: “The RNLI has carried out risk assessments at the majority of beaches around the Scottish coastline and, although there are no concrete plans at the moment, the charity does expect that in the future we will have more lifeguards on beaches.”
At present, the RNLI operates lifeguards on seven beaches in Scotland, all on the east coast.