Dramatic new photos have emerged of the moment that two young swimmers were rescued from Burnham-On-Sea’s jetty at the weekend.
The images – taken on a mobile phone – show one of the girls desperately clinging onto the metal chains at the end of the jetty while the seawater flows quickly around her with the lifeboat arriving to rescue her.
A brave rescuer is also pictured holding onto the second girl as she holds onto the wooden jetty pole with the fast-incoming tide surrounding them.
A further photo, below, shows ropes being used by the Coastguard and lifeboat crews to haul one of the girls back to safety during Saturday’s incident.
As we first reported here, Faye Mays (12), April Mays (11) and Jess Woodford (13), all from Bridgwater, got into difficulty after entering the sea for a cooling swim near the town’s Pavilion, but the fast-incoming tide took them by surprise and they were swept upstream.
Jess managed to scramble to the beach while Faye and April were pulled along further and managed to cling onto the metal chains at the end of the jetty while the sea water flowed in quickly around them.
Burnham’s Coastguards and lifeboat crew were quickly on scene and the RNLI rescued one of the girls using a lifeboat while the other was brought back to the beach using ropes.
Burnham’s Mayor, Cllr Martin Cox, also praised the rescue teams this week. He told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I would like to add my congratulations to all involved in this rescue.”
“It’s such a relief that the girls were successfully rescued. We are very fortunate that Burnham has such dedicated crewmembers from the Coastguard, RNLI, BARB and lifeguards in place.”
Faye and April’s mother, Tracy, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I could so easily have lost both my children. Words cannot describe how grateful I am that they are all safe and well. Thank you to all the rescuers who pulled my girls out.”
The incident comes 11 months after four year-old Dylan Cecil drowned after falling from the jetty while the tide was quickly flowing in.
Pictured: Rescuers on Burnham jetty with ropes during Saturday’s incident and, above, Faye Mays (12), April Mays (11) and Jess Woodford (13)
