Lifeguard Ryan Hennessey saved the life of a 14-year-old boy after he jumped into the water at Blyth Beach
A teenager sparked a dramatic seaside rescue when a game went dangerously wrong.
The 14-year-old boy was dragged out to sea by a deadly rip current after jumping off pipes into the water at Blyth beach, in Northumberland, on Saturday.
But his life was saved by volunteer lifeguard Ryan Hennessey, who dived in to bring the youngster back to shore.
Today, the 23-year-old hero, from Blyth Lifeguard and Swimming Club, told how dangerous a position the teen had been in.
And his colleagues once again sounded warnings to young people to take their safety seriously around the coast this summer.
The rip current had pulled the lad some 600m from the shore in a matter of minutes and, by the time Ryan reached him, he was already struggling to swim in the choppy waters.
Ryan said: “I was radioed by the observation tower to say a boy had jumped into the water off the pipes and was being dragged out to sea by the current. I was told he was about 50m out to sea.
“I reached him within a couple of minutes but, by that time, he was about 600m out, which just shows how strong the current was.
“When I got to him, I kept him calm and reassured him. He explained he had cramp in his leg and couldn’t swim.”
With the back-up of fellow lifeguard Kieran Falcus, the boy was eventually pulled to safety from the water, which had a swell of 2m.
Ryan added: “I could see the lifeboat team signalling at me to stay with the boy and they would send Kieran out with a rescue boat.
“I did that and Kieran came and paddled the boy back to safety. Once he was onshore, Kieran then came back to assist me.
“It was a really great team effort by everyone.”
The teen was checked over by paramedics and didn’t need further treatment but Ryan was taken by ambulance to Wansbeck General Hospital suffering from mild hypothermia and shock.
He was well enough, however, to be back on duty this afternoon.
Aileen Robson, also from Blyth Lifeguard and Swimming Club, who patrol Blyth beach voluntarily at the weekends during the summer, said the boy and his mates had been warned about jumping into the sea shortly before the drama unfolded.
She said: “The group of lads were warned but I think they just thought we were trying to spoil their fun.
“We only patrol the beach at the weekend, so it doesn’t bear thinking about if this had happened during the week.
“Quite often we have to warn youngsters of the dangers of jumping off the pipes into the sea and quite often I think they just think we want to spoil their fun.
“That obviously isn’t the case, as was proven on Saturday. The currents are extremely dangerous and the swell was particularly high at 2m.”
Blyth RNLI inshore lifeboay, a rescue helicopter from RAF Boulmer and the shore-based Blyth Coastguard rescue team were also called to the scene by a member of the public who saw what was happening. But when they arrived Ryan was back on shore and all were stood down.
Blyth RNLI Lifeboat operations manager, John Scott, said “This is the first time we have been called to rescue a lifeguard and although our crew only played a small part I am glad everything turned out alright.”
The rescue came as the start at the start of the busy season for the region’s lifeboats and lifeguards.
Also over the weekend, Tynemouth RNLI went to the aid of five teenage boys after they had become stranded on rocks which were cut-off by the high tide.
Tynemouth RNLI’s Inshore Lifeboat was launched and rescued the boys, all of whom were unhurt. The were rescued from a set of rocks known as Camel Island, just off Marsden Bay, at around 5.15pm on Saturday.