Brave rescue highlights the dangers of pier jumping
The quick response and brave actions of three members of our seafront team, along with emergency services, helped rescue two people from the sea near the Palace Pier on Sunday evening.
Seafront Officers Fabian Bull, Chaz Branson and Jake Walker rushed to the scene on just before 7pm following reports of two people in the water near the Palace Pier, one of them face down.
Fabian and Chaz swam around 300 metres to find one man unconscious and face down in the water and another unresponsive, shaking and clinging to a life ring under the pier.
Image: Left to right: Jake, Chaz and Fabian
Using their skills, training, and rescue equipment, they managed to deliver rescue breaths to the unconscious man and bring both men back to shore where Jake was waiting with resuscitation equipment to begin CPR. Paramedics arrived shortly afterwards and took over with advanced life support.
An off-duty doctor also supported paramedics to help the second man who was hypothermic, in shock and suffering from lower back and leg pain The lifeboat and helicopter were quickly on the scene to assist.
Both men were treated at the scene and taken to hospital.
Fabian said: “This was an extremely challenging situation, but I’m glad to have had Chaz and Jake there with me.
“We worked well as a team to bring the two men back to shore as quickly as we could.
“Unfortunately, this again highlights just how dangerous it is to jump from a pier. At low tide, it’s impossible to tell how deep the water is.”
Challenging conditions
While Fabian, Jake and Chaz were carrying out the rescue, three off duty lifeguards, Yann Stanford, Michael Nel and Tyler Samuel, rushed to the scene and got changed into uniform to help manage the large crowd that had gathered.
Unfortunately, while trying to do this, they did receive abuse from some members of the public.
This was extremely disappointing to hear as our team put their lives on the line every day to help others and deserve nothing but our admiration and respect.
