STEVEN WILSON: RNLI
If someone needs help you just go, without even thinking about it
“If my pager goes off on Christmas Day, I’ll be up and out the door without really thinking about it.” A life of fishing opened Steven Wilson’s eyes to the beauty of the sea, but also to the dangers. Born and raised in Aith on the west coast of the Shetland mainland, he joined the RNLI two decades ago after leaving school. He hadn’t even started plating up his Christmas dinner on December 25, 2020, when his phone rang. “My brother, Johnarthur, called me to say his boat had stopped,” Steven remembered.
“I asked where he was and I knew that with his location, the fact it was a poor night and the direction of the wind, he didn’t have a lot of time. I told him to get a mayday out. I was already at the station with all my gear on by the time my pager went off.”
As the Aith RNLI crew approached John-arthur’s boat, they had to act quickly. Steven said: “There were fairly strong winds and it was pitch black. “His anchor had taken a grip but, at the most, he might have been 15-20 metres from sheer cliffs with quite a heavy swell. We went nose in with the lifeboat to try to get a rope to him but the wind kept taking the line away from us. “Our coxswain, John, did an outstanding job getting the boat close.”
The team rescued John-arthur after an operation lasting almost three hours. It wasn’t until Steven got home – and poured himself a strong drink – that he realised how different the outcome could have been.
“It was certainly a life-or-death situation and it was absolutely terrifying,” he said. “It was one of those things, instinct kicked in then it was only once it was all over that I had time to stop and think. I realised how lucky he was, another five minutes and it could have been a very different situation.” Despite that memory, Steven will be on call again this Christmas, ready to drop everything and head out to sea. “Being on the sea and working with boats, it makes me very aware of the dangers,” he said.” “But it also means that if someone needs help, you absolutely go and do it, without even thinking.”