RNLI float to live - Peterborough couple's story - video Dailymotion

Katie and Will recount the dramatic moment they were swept out to sea, and how the RNLI's Float to Live advice helped to save their lives

Transcript

00:00We were there jumping over waves, whatever else, a particularly large, we could see it

00:17coming, there was a particularly large wave coming towards us, and then we started getting

00:22dragged towards it, so first we tried to sort of outrun it, realised that was impossible,

00:27and so we tried to, so we sort of rode with it, and it was after we rode with it, we began

00:34realising things were wrong, but not really, it kind of hadn't set in yet, you could see

00:38the shore getting further away, sort of, right, well this isn't good, we realised we couldn't

00:43reach the bottom of the sea floor anymore, because we'd been dragged quite a bit further

00:47out, and then, yeah, I think that's really when we started realising we were in difficulty.

00:54There was kind of a moment of like, oh, this could be it, like, that could be it, you know.

01:01I remember telling you I love you.

01:03Yeah.

01:04Oh yeah, I definitely thought we were going to die, excuse me.

01:11I feel like the float technique was the difference between life and death, I think if I hadn't

01:15remembered the float to live technique, I would have succumbed to exhaustion long before the

01:21lifeguards even got to us, as it is, it was a close call, they got to us just as I was

01:27about to, I wouldn't say give up, but I was definitely struggling to stay at the surface

01:32by the time they got to us, and I think without it, it would have been a very different story.

01:35So, on that particular day, the conditions took a turn for the WIS, the sea is unpredictable,

01:40different things can happen, so Katie and Will were really lucky to have seen the float

01:46to live advice, and to follow it and to take kind of notice of it, so the fact that they

01:50knew how to get into their float position and keep themselves safe really helped them

01:54on that day when things changed.

01:57If you get into difficulty in water, float to live, tilt your head back with your ears

02:02submerged, relax and try to breathe normally, move your hands and legs to help you stay afloat,

02:09it's fine if your legs sink, we all float differently, practice floating in a local pool if you can,

02:15and if you see someone in trouble at the coast, call 999 or 112 and ask for the coast guard,

02:21tell the person to relax and float on their back, or throw something buoyant to help them

02:26stay afloat.