A year ago we reported how lifeguards at West Kirby in Merseyside teamed up with lifeboat crews to save a man who had fallen onto rocks. Now the team have been recognised with a special award.

The Alison Saunders Lifeguarding Award recognises the year’s most outstanding rescue carried out by RNLI lifeguards. Norman and Mike Procter (who are father and son, pictured second and first from the right) and Tom Corlett (second from left) have become the latest people to receive the award. They found the casualty in a rocky area at the edge of Hilbre Island. ‘I spotted a man clinging to a rock in the water who looked like he was in serious pain,' says Mike. 'He was becoming weaker and weaker and his head kept slipping under the surface of the water. Dad jumped straight in to rescue the man, and then I went in to support the lower half of his body. The waves were crashing in to all three of us making it really difficult to stay afloat.’ The lifeguards kept the casualty safe while lifeboat crews from Hoylake and West Kirby arrived with first aid equipment. The crews – who received RNLI letters
of commendation – worked with the lifeguards to secure the injured man in a stretcher. He was then airlifted to hospital by a search and rescue helicopter.