Injured girl RAMSEY COASTGUARD asked Peel lifeboat station honorary secretary at 1520 on Monday August 25, 1980, if the lifeboat would launch immediately to go to the help of a girl who had fallen off the cliffs between Niarbyl and White Beach; her injuries were not known.

With the Neils Robertson stretcher on board, Peel's Atlantic 21 rigid inflatable lifeboat launched at 1529 and set out at full speed. Helmsman George Havercroft was in command with Pat Biggane and Colin Makin as his crew.

It was a fine, calm day.

The girl had been walking along a cliff path with a companion and three dogs when, going to the help of one of the dogs stranded on a ledge, she fell.

Although visibility was excellent, her exact position among the rocky outcrops would not have been easy to find had the lifeboat not been guided in by George Grady. Mr Grady, a visitorfrom the Wirral, had been on shore in the area when he was told of the accident by someone who had seen the girl fall. He immediately launched his inflatable dinghy, found the girl and helped and comforted her until the lifeboat arrived at 1543.

Because of the rock outcrops under the water, and the ebbing tide, Helmsman Havercroft detailed Crew Member Makin to remain with the Atlantic 21 and keep her from grounding while he and Crew Member Biggane made their way across the rocks to the 22-year-old girl. A broken pelvis and broken legs were suspected, and she was placed in the stretcher. Her companion, a boy, had by now found his way down to the rocks on a steep, narrow cliff path, with the three dogs.

Helped by George Grady, the lifeboatmen carried the stretcher to the waterline, which had receded considerably with Crew Member Makin continually paddling the Atlantic 21 into deeper water to keep her afloat and clear of the rocky sea bed. George Grady offered his inflatable dinghy as the easiest means of ferrying the injured girl and the boy, who was suffering from shock, out to the lifeboat.

Although wearing ordinary clothes, Mr Grady did not hesitate to wade out waist deep with the lifeboatmen to help them embark the two people and their dogs.

Once the casualties were safely aboard, the Atlantic 21 set out at slow speed. When she arrived at the boathouse, at 1635, a doctor was waiting to supervise the transfer of the injured girl to a waiting ambulance. The lifeboat was rehoused, refuelled and ready for service at 1655.

For this service a letter of appreciation signed by Rear Admiral W. J.

Graham, director of the Institution, was sent to George Grady..