voices Hard graft & glamour Her remarkable determination and bravery Have won Tanni Grey-Thompson international awards and fans but the sporting idol has her own heroes and heroines, as she explains to Rory Stamp ‘The weather was horrible,’ shivers Tanni as she recalls her first experience of the RNLI. The now 11-times gold medallist was just 7 years old at the time, and had only recently begun to use a wheelchair. On a stormy day while on holiday in Brixham, Devon, she and her family heard the deep explosion of a maroon summoning the lifeboat crew. Peering through a rain-lashed window that overlooked the seafront, she watched volunteers rush to the lifeboat station in response. ‘I remember thinking how scary the sea was – you could see huge waves crashing into the walls. Suddenly, all these cars screamed up to the slipway and the crew members jumped out.’ Seeing the volunteers launch a lifeboat in such conditions left a lifetime impression on Tanni, now 37.

‘They came back 2 hours later with a broken-down boat in tow,’ she remembers. ‘My mother and father were already involved in RNLI fundraising, and that experience made me really appreciate why. I still find it quite humbling when I think about what the crew members do, especially as I’m not a fan of the sea.’ It is typical of Tanni to prefer talking about the actions of others rather than her own remarkable achievements, of which there have been many. Born with spina bifida, she went on to build an elite sporting career that spanned 19 years, winning 11 Paralympic gold medals and setting 30 world records. She has also won the women’s London Wheelchair Marathon six times, including the 1994 and 1998 events when she raised more than £50,000 towards an Atlantic 75 lifeboat for Cardigan lifeboat station. Still used by the crew today, the Tanni Grey was named by the woman herself in 1999.

‘It was a brilliant day, especially as it was a Welsh lifeboat station,’ says Tanni, who was born in Cardiff.

‘The crew took me out in the lifeboat – I was very wary at first but they made it clear to me that the last thing they would do is let me fall overboard from a lifeboat that had my name on it!’ Another highlight of that year was her marriage to Dr Ian Thompson, who she had met when they were both members of the national wheelchair racing squad.

Two years later, Tanni was the guest of honour at the RNLI’s annual presentation of awards in London.

Ending an emotional speech at the ceremony, she said: ‘I leave in awe of the bravery and dedication of those people who have been involved and, not for the first time during my involvement with the RNLI, wishing that I’d come wearing slightly less mascara.’ Given her glittering career and a series of distinctions (her damehood was conferred in 2005 and she has received several sports personality accolades and a Pride of Britain award), you’d be forgiven for thinking Dame Tanni has had a glamorous life. ‘That’s not necessarily the case,’ she says. ‘There’s a lot that people don’t see. As with all athletes, I’ve spent most of my time training and that’s not very glamorous, especially in Winter. It’s just going up and down a road, with a very, very runny nose.’ While she points out that ‘winning medals and saving lives are obviously completely different things’, Dame Tanni believes there are some similarities between the lives of RNLI volunteers and athletes.

‘Again, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes,’ she explains. ‘Lifeboat crew members sometimes get public attention if they carry out an exceptional rescue. But the training, the washing down of lifeboats, the maintenance and so on: it’s a lot of unpaid, essential hard graft that isn’t seen.’ Although she left the sporting stage in May 2007, after winning a silver medal at the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, Dame Tanni is still a busy lady.

She continues to train, is a BBC commentator and is a member of the Laureus World Academy, which ‘promotes sport as a tool for social change’. She is also involved with a new company, Rackety’s, which makes clothes for disabled people. ‘The designs are great – there are some really vibrant colours but they are also functional. It’s very rewarding when a parent says to you that you’ve brightened up their life and their daughter’s life because she finally has an outfit that is easy to get on and off and looks pretty.’ Retiring from athletics has also made it easier for this highly successful woman to do the job she loves best: being a mum to her 5-year-old daughter (pictured above). ‘It’s great being able to spend more time with Carys. She always did think athletics was boring!’ laughs Dame Tanni. And despite being a self-confessed landlubber, she says that her home on the north east coast of England offers a regular reminder of the RNLI’s mission to save lives at sea. ‘We live in Redcar, and the lifeboat crew there is a real part of the community. It’s an amazing group of people who put everything on the line to rescue other people. I wouldn’t do it for a million quid!’ ‘Lifeboat crew members sometimes get public attention if they carry out an exceptional rescue. But there’s a lot of unpaid, essential hard graft that isn’t seen.’ Payback time Sailor Graham Wills has always supported the RNLI but, as he tells Rory Stamp, a rather unpleasant experience led him to go a little further for the charity When the flashing blue light appeared through the darkness, Graham Wills sighed with relief.

His new yacht, his pride and joy, was snared in a trawl net. Wrapped around the propeller, rudder and keel, it had left Graham and his two crew members trapped a mile and a half off Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula.

Graham wasn’t short of boating experience – he had taken up sailing at the age of 16, eagerly grabbing any chance to crew different boats until, in 2000, he took on his biggest test yet: sailing around the world in the BT Global Challenge.

Then he decided to buy a yacht of his own. And so, in April 2003, he set off from Weymouth, Dorset, to take his new Moody S38 around the south west tip of Cornwall to his home town of Burnham-on- Sea in Somerset. He and his crew (two friends with Yachtmaster qualifications) were making good progress on a night passage from Falmouth to Newlyn when they hit the net. All three were standing watch at the time, but it was a moonless night and they did not spot the unmarked hazard. There was a slight swell and little wind, and they were stuck fast. Graham had no choice but to radio for help.

‘When the Falmouth lifeboat arrived, I had such mixed feelings,’ says Graham, 58. ‘It was indescribable relief as the lifeboat approached us, but then frustration because she didn’t initially come alongside. But none of us had stopped to think that the Coxswain didn’t want to run into the trawl net as well! Shock came when we realised the yacht may have to be abandoned.’ Fortunately the lifeboat crew managed to cut the yacht free, and she was towed to harbour with her exhausted but grateful crew.

Graham, a retired banker, has never forgotten the help he received that night. ‘If I were younger, I would love to be a crew member but of course there are a lot of other ways in which I hope to be able to help’ In the same year as his rescue, a new RNLI lifeboat station was opened near his home.

Keen to lend his time and experience to the charity that had rescued him and his yacht, Graham became station Treasurer in 2005 and, in 2007, was appointed Chairman.

‘If I were younger, I would love to be a crew member but of course there are a lot of other ways in which I hope to be able to help,’ says Graham, whose role includes chairing meetings, giving presentations and accepting donations on the station’s behalf. ‘My involvement provides a way to repay the RNLI for the help and support that I was given.’ The rescue off Falmouth was by no means Graham’s worst experience at sea.

While taking part in the BT Global Challenge, he and his fellow competitors hit extreme weather between New Zealand and South Africa. ‘On the passage from Wellington we were knocked down and I dislocated my left shoulder.’ On the same leg of the race, the yacht suffered another knock down in the notorious Southern Ocean. ‘That time I thought I had broken my back,’ says Graham.

‘I wish I could have been taken off the yacht by an RNLI lifeboat!’ Once Graham and the crew arrived in Cape Town, a hospital visit showed he had crushed a disc in his spine. ‘At times it still troubles me, but I wouldn’t have missed the race experience,’ he adds.

Such experiences of the sea’s raw power prompt a range of emotions in Graham every time he witnesses the Burnham-on-Sea lifeboat launch: ‘I’m proud that they willingly put themselves on the line for others and am concerned for their safety,’ he says of the crew. He is also grateful for the opportunity to volunteer for the charity. ‘Being retired provides a challenge in terms of what to do with one’s free time, but there’s lots you can do to support the RNLI. You’ll be rewarded with new friends and the knowledge that you’re doing something for a very worthwhile cause – which I can definitely vouch for!’ your shout To add your shout, write to the Editor at [email protected] or RNLI Headquarters, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HZ Dear Editor I am in my 90's but one thing I have never forgotten is when I ‘just went for a swim’.

I have never forgotten is when I ‘just went for a swim’. I was in the Army, stationed at Bournemouth and bored.

One day I decided to swim between the piers. Though a poor swimmer, I was confi dent I could stay afl oat indefi nitely and thought that, in time, I should get there.

at Bournemouth and bored.

One day I decided to swim between the piers. Though a poor swimmer, I was confi dent I could stay afl oat indefi nitely and thought that, in time, I should get there. I swam and swam until I began to feel cold internally. I turned towards the shore but found myself struggling to breathe in the surf.

I realised I might drown. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to turn on my back so I could see the waves coming and snatch breaths. At last I was through.

I swam and swam until I began to feel cold internally. I turned I realised I might drown. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to turn on my back so I could see the waves coming and snatch I crawled out of the water, wobbly and heavy. I forced myself into a trot and by the time I reached my clothes I was dry and no longer shivering. What a fool I had been. The danger of surf, tide, current or cold had never occurred to me so I had told no one before I set out. It was a bright sunny day and I was just going for a swim … I crawled out of the water, wobbly and heavy. I forced myself into a trot and by the time I reached my clothes I was dry and no longer shivering. What a fool I had been. The danger of surf, tide, current or cold had never occurred to me so I had told no one before I set out. It was a bright sunny day and I was just I watch TV’s Seaside rescue, where people, in all innocence, take appalling risks. Then I think back. It is a good thing that the RNLI has extended it services to beaches and the lower Thames. Where there’s water, there’s risk.

, where people, in all innocence, take appalling risks. Then I think back. It is a good thing that the RNLI has extended it services to beaches and the lower Thames. Where there’s water, there’s risk. Yours sincerely Leslie Rogers, Surrey Dear Editor I read with great interest the Autumn 2007 rescue article ‘Perilous play’. It reminded me of my time in Great Yarmouth where I met and married my wife 41 years ago. I always taught my children to respect the sea and its currents.

I would also like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all the RNLI crews both past and present.

I would however like to point out that Great Yarmouth and Gorleston station is in Norfolk and not in Suffolk! Best regards Eddie Sturley (retired North Sea oilman), by email Corrections and clarifi cations In the Autumn 2007 issue we were supplied with the wrong photograph to illustrate the new Rosa Chris Beardshaw. Here is the correct one: Several kayakers wrote to tell us that the craft shown in ‘Five alive’ is suitable for use at sea but of course only with suitable training, kit and precautions. Apologies for any offence caused to the many responsible participants of this sport.

Apologies to Tom Templeton for errors in ‘Rapture of the deep’. Tom clarifi ed what happened: ‘My back-up equipment was the DSMB that needed to be assembled prior to release and infl ated with the “octopus”, which then free-fl owed. I did not carry out a controlled emergency swimming ascent, but a normal ascent and only took air from my buddy when it ran out at 20m on the way to the surface from a depth of 34m.’ Apologies to Tom Templeton for errors in ‘Rapture of the deep’. Tom clarifi ed what happened: ‘My back-up equipment was the DSMB that needed to be assembled prior to release and infl ated with the “octopus”, which then free-fl owed. I did not carry out a controlled emergency swimming ascent, but a normal ascent and only took air from my buddy when it ran out at 20m on the way to the surface from a depth of 34m.’Dear Martin [Rudwick, Coxswain at Selsey]Words cannot express the gratitude that we feel towards you and your crew for your prompt and gallant help in extreme weather [see page 20.] We would like to give our special thanks to Second Coxswain Willy Pledger, who came aboard and gave his expert assistance and calming in? uence, which helped us to cope with the long night ahead. For such an essential service, which relies on voluntary contributions and not Government funding, we salute you and the many other RNLI personnel involved around our coast.

Yours in gratitudeRobert Keillor and Frank BarrettLondon .