Staithes RNLI Lifeboat

Staithes RNLI lifeboat was launched at 6:20pm on Tuesday evening to help police and coastguards search for a missing elderly lady.

The volunteer lifeboat crew were called after the woman’s husband reported her missing and vulnerable. The couple were staying in Whitby and had come to Staithes for the afternoon. Whilst police and coastguards searched the village the lifeboat crew were tasked with looking along the coast between Skinningrove and Port Mulgrave.

The woman was found by a member of the public near a farm just on the outskirts of Staithes. The missing lady was lost and confused and the person who found her called ambulance. She was taken to James Cook hospital as a precaution.

Staithes RNLI lifeboat was launched at 10:40pm on Monday night when four teenagers became trapped by the sea beneath cliffs near Skinningrove.

The volunteer lifeboat crew were called after one of the teenagers managed to phone the police to say that they were surrounded by water to the south of Skinningrove. Mobile Coastguard teams and the police helicopter were also deployed.

When the lifeboat arrived on scene they found the group, which included two male and two female 17 and 18 year olds, perched on a ledge six feet above the water. One of the lifeboat crew was able to swim ashore and it was discovered that one of the males had fallen into the sea whilst trying to get to safety. The seventeen year old was showing signs of hypothermia and it was decided he needed to be evacuated immediately. He was recovered to the lifeboat and taken to a waiting doctor and ambulance at Staithes, arriving at 11:40pm.

By this time the tide had started to go out and Skinningrove coastguard teams managed to reach the three remaining casualties on foot. They were then walked back to Skinningrove under the watchful eye of police helicopter India 55.

James Austin, the lifeboat crewman who swam ashore, says:-

“Despite the fine weather last night there was quite a swell at the scene and the area is very rocky. This meant that the lifeboat had to anchor and I swam ashore with a line, something we practise all the time. The group were all scared but the guy who had fallen in was obviously wet and very cold. The three others were still dry and the tide was starting to go out so we decided to take the hypothermic casualty back to the doctor at Staithes.”

By half past midnight the remainder of the group were safely ashore and the rescue teams were stood down. The cold casualty made a full recovery.

Trapped Teenagers Rescue Footage>