Shore, lifeboat and helicopter crews save anglerA huge wave threw an angler off rocks into the sea near Padstow, Cornwall. Luckily, two boys saw the incident and ran to get help and the Padstow lifeboat crew were soon paged. They jumped in the RNLI Landrover, turned on the blue flashing light and siren, and raced to the station, 5 miles away The Padstow crew sped down narrow country lanes to the station at Trevose Head.

They all knew time was critical with the angler fighting to stay alive in rough seas. The launch crew, led by Head Launcher Robert Norfolk, prepared the Tyne class lifeboat for a fast slipway launch. With a particularly heavy ground swell of 4-5m to contend with, they worked quickly and skilfully to launch James Burrough within eight minutes of being paged, at 8.52am on 31 October 2003.

On their way the lifeboat crew spotted a crowd of people on a nearby cliff, so Coxswain Alan Tarby headed to that area.

They were on scene seven minutes after launching. Visibility was good and the wind was force 3, but the rough sea state and a heavy swell made the missing angler hard to find.The lifeboat got to within 200m of the cliff and the crowd pointed out the position of the man. As the lifeboat rose to the top of a wave, the crew spotted the casualty about 25m away.

When the angler fell in the water, he had had the presence of mind and the strength to swim away from the cliffs rather than trying to swim back in. Alan reflects on what could have easily happened:'He would almost certainly have been badly hurt or even killed by the force of the sea breaking onto the rocks.'The angler was exhausted when the lifeboat found him.The crew threw him a heaving line, but he was too weak to use it.

Alan manoeuvred the lifeboat alongside and Crew Members Chris Murphy and Kevin Briggs climbed down the scrambling net. Up to their waist in water, they grabbed the angler and, with the help of other crew members, managed to lift him on board and get back on deck themselves.

The casualty was showing signs of hypothermia. The crew placed him in the recovery position and wrapped him in blankets.Two crew members lay alongside him to warm him up gently and he was given oxygen. Yet his condition deteriorated quickly; he was vomiting regularly and drifting in and out of consciousness.

The RNAS Culdrose helicopter arrived on scene and agreed to try to airlift the casualty to hospital atTruro.With some difficulty, due to the heavy swell, the helicopter landed a crew member on the deck with a stretcher.

The crew gave the casualty first aid until he was successfully airlifted to the helicopter.

Alan recalls the atmosphere on the lifeboat after the man was taken by the helicopter to hospital: 'There was a great feeling that we had achieved something worthwhile.' Back at the station there was a difficultrecovery back onto the slipway. The shore crew and the lifeboat crew displayed a high level of teamwork to get the lifeboat and crew safely back at 10.08am.

In letters to the lifeboat and shore crews, Operations Director Michael Vlasto commented: 'This was a first-class team effort, demonstrating fast response, excellent first aid and polished team work.' All involved were delighted to hear later that the angler's life had indeed been saved, and that he had made a full recovery..