It was a special day for Julie Clark, a 69-year-old sea dipper from Wirral, as she and her group navigated their way to the water through the dunes of Leasowe Beach’s sweeping sandy bay to complete her 50th dip.
“I was celebrating my 50th dip with four others from my local club, so it was just for some fun really,” says Julie. The group always stay away from the mouth of the bay, where they’d been warned of potentially dangerous currents.
“It sounds stupid after what happened, but we’re quite sensible and we keep to the left of ‘Jack’, a big pipe on the far side of the beach. We don’t go out of our depth; but I’ll admit that I do love jumping the waves – it’s what makes things different and fun.”
It was as the group had been wading out that Julie spotted one of her fellow dippers, someone she didn’t know well, moving past Jack, out past the mouth of the bay.
“I called out to her with my colleague warning about going past the post. Looking back, I think she might have already been in difficulty, and I couldn’t see a float, which was very worrying.”
It was then that Julie and her fellow dipper made a very well-intentioned mistake: they swam out deeper. “We just wanted to help I think,” says Julie. “I didn’t even realise that we were now drifting out too and only realised this when my feet hit some rocks.
“I felt helpless, as I recognised the danger and the limits of my own abilities, and a horrid realisation crept in – before me a person was drowning. It was totally horrible, and she was in such great difficulties.
“Her hands were up and the waves were crashing over her. In my mind, I’d turned my back on someone who was drowning and I’m still finding that very hard to deal with.”
Julie attempted to swim to the shore while battling the strong current when she saw a man standing on the cliff pointing and shaking his hands. She said: “I put my hands up and pointed to the other swimmers. I gestured that I was trying to move and swim. I had my float and held onto it, but I was so, so tired.
“I remember thinking that I was going to drown, and I decided to try to reach the rocks. At that stage, I didn’t know that the Coastguard was coming. I was taken closer; there were lots of waves and it was quite frightening.”
Desperately fighting the tide and her own exhaustion, Julie clung to the rocks, being bruised and battered by the surf and the unforgiving breakwater. She later said she felt lucky compared to the other two.
Shouting through the winds, an off-duty doctor was reassuring. “She kept telling me to look and focus on her, and I was doing it, but I couldn’t hold on any longer,” Julie recalls.
Coastguards then arrived, including water rescue team-members Calvin Pickess and Hugo Chandor, and Officer in Charge Paul Ambrose. Paul said: “The swimmers were battling a ‘washing machine’ effect; being struck against the rocks repeatedly. I shouted to them as they held onto their floats, but I could see they were exhausted.”
“I knew that with the waves, rocks and period in the water, we only had a small pocket of time to do a water rescue. Our officers could get in there to shield the casualties and stabilise the situation before other assets could get on scene.”
Officer in Charge Paul opted for a very quick ‘snatch rescue’ with Calvin going into the crashing waters while secured on a line. He got hold of Julie first and pulled her up the rocks and out of the water. She was quickly put in a warm Coastguard vehicle and assessed.
He added: “It was obviously time critical, so Hugo entered the water for the other two casualties. He put his feet against the rocks and then kept hold of them, taking the full impact of the waves behind him.”
RNLI New Brighton lifeboat arrived but due to the conditions couldn't get in safely. They sent one crew person ashore to assist. With the rocks being so slippery, Coastguards used a basket stretcher to get the remaining two casualties out the water and onto the rocks.
A Coastguard Rescue Helicopter arrived and winched both casualties off the rocks and onto the beach, where they were assessed by paramedics and taken to Arrowe Park Hospital. Both casualties are making a steady recovery.
“The swimmer from the group who got out of the water to call for help was crucial,” says Paul. “Had they swum out to assist, that 999 call might not have happened so quickly. It could have been a very different outcome.
He added: “Seeing the casualties home safe for Christmas, it’s amazing.” Speaking about her coastguard rescuers, Julie says simply, “They’re absolutely marvellous.”
If you’re in trouble at sea or on the coast, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.
