Amid these busy scenes on local beaches, Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards were called out twice on Sunday (June 13th) to search for missing children on Brean beach.
With hundreds of families flocking to Brean beach during the hot weather on Sunday, as pictured here, Coastguards were prepared for the possibility of children getting lost.
“With such a large area and so many people, it is easy for anyone especially children to get disorientated and wander off in completely the wrong direction,” says a Burnham-On-Sea Coastguard spokesman.
“This was the case for a young girl who was playing by the water with her dad and brother. She scooped up a bucket of water and told her dad she was going back to mum. As she made her way back she became disorientated and ended up wandering along the beach instead of up it.”
“The parents immediately started looking for her when they realised she was missing and, as most parents do, they started to panic.”
“They alerted the beach warden who called the Coastguard Coordination Centre in Milford Haven who tasked us.”
“Time was ticking on and the parents grew ever more worried for their little girl. When we arrived Dad had provided the beach warden with a full description and a photo they had taken that day when they arrived.”
“This is a valuable piece of information and we urge anyone who visits the beach or goes anywhere busy to do the same.”
“As we were preparing our initial search and also getting our flank team Weston-Super-Mare Coastguard Rescue Team so we could search a larger area quicker with more search teams.”
“As one of our team members was explaining what we were doing and offering some reassurance the dad let out a massive shout and ran off as quick as he could after spotting his daughter walking down the beach with a woman who had seen that she was lost and was helping her find her parents.”
“A very relieved and very tearful Mum and Dad were reunited with an upset little girl who to her credit still had a full bucket of water.”
“This shows how quickly it can happen: a short walk in a straight line back to mum turned into over an hour of the worst fear and panic a parent can imagine.”
“After the happy reunion, we were all feeling the heat and were heading back to station along the beach when we were informed another child had lost parents on the busy beach so we turned around and headed back to Brean Beach to meet up with the beach warden.”
“Thankfully he had already found the parents and everyone was fine. A busy day for all the beach wardens up and down our seven miles of sand but a quiet weekend for us.”
“Don’t forget if you visit the beach as a group, upon arrival take a picture of everyone individually so we have an up to date picture. This really helps.”
“Look for something that stands out so if you do get separated you can head to that focal point. If there is a lifeguard hut see if they do the free wristbands, you can write your contact info on them.”
“Don’t panic! take a deep breath and calmly think about what you should do if any of your group gets lost. If there are beach wardens or lifeguards then approach them and tell them whats happened.”
“Dial 999 and ask for the Coastguards, the quicker we are called, the quicker we can start looking. It is never a waste of our time to be called, it is far better to be called and not needed than be called too late to help.”
