A former lifeguard who helmed the boat that tried to save the life of Christine Robinson has been awarded a medal for his actions and 'courage' during the incident.
Michael Stannard, a former lifeguard who now volunteers for the RNLI New Brighton, was awarded the charity's Bronze gallantry medal for his "boat handling skills, seamanship and courage" during a complex rescue operation in July 2020. Michael was helming the boat that had been requested by HM Coastguard to save a Christine, her son Niall and their dog Geordie whose lives were endangered five metres off the sea wall.
He and his crew managed to save the life of Niall and Geordie despite the extremely challenging conditions. Tragically, Christine did not make it, and her body was discovered later on the rocks near New Brighton promenade.
READ MORE: Dog walker swept to her death at seaside showed 'instinctive heroism'
Michael received the medal from the Duke of Kent last Friday at St James' Palace in London. Michael, who has shown his fearlessness and courage when saving lives before, including when he dove into the water and swam two teenagers back to safety last year, was praised by his colleagues.
Ian Thornton, the lifeboat operations manager at RNLI New Brighton, said: "The team of RNLI New Brighton are extremely proud of Michael, Oz, Thomas and Emily [his crewmembers] for the skill, determination and courage shown that day.
"They worked together as a team and reacted to the requirements of the situation in a very timely manner, recovering a man and a dog from the water which was physically difficult, and demonstrable abundance of courage whilst working in a dangerous environment.
"They had total faith in the ability of Michael and utmost trust in the lifeboat. Without doubt, they saved the lives of the male casualty and the dog that day."
Michael said: "It's a really proud day, for both the team on that day and it's a proud day for New Brighton, for everyone who's put in the training over the past year and fundraised to keep the boats running. [The medal] is a recognition of that.
"It's also tainted with sadness as we couldn't save everybody on that day. A life was lost and my deepest sympathies and condolences go to the family.
"It was a treacherous day. The conditions were very difficult but thankfully the team on the boat were able to recover one man and a dog and safely recover them back to the care of the ambulance."
Receive our three MyWirral newsletters and breaking news email alerts by signing up here.
