This incredible image shows RNLI crews rescuing a stranded dog walker who almost drowned after becoming separated from his family on a sandbank. It shows the four-man team speeding in to save dad-of-three Richard Burton while he desperately tries to hold his pet pooch, Lola, above the rising water.
Richard, from Sheffield, had been walking on Cleethorpes Beach, Lincolnshire, on Monday (April 18) when he had become disconnected from his wife and kids by the fast moving tide. He said the situation had become increasingly “scary” as within ten minutes, the water had risen from his waist to his shoulders.
Richard tried to get back onto dry land but had become trapped after slipping several times on a muddy ridge that ran up the other side of the bank His wife then called the emergency services, with two Coast Guard crews and the RNLI rushing to save him.
When the crew from RNLI Cleethorpes arrived, they managed to haul Richard aboard their rescue vessel and bring him to safety, while a helicopter kept watch above them. A spokesman for the RNLI said: “We were called out, along with Cleethorpes Coastguard and the Coastguard helicopter, just before 6pm on Easter Monday to a person trapped in the middle of a creek, up to his chest in water, with the tide still rising.
“When we arrived, we found him protecting his dog by holding her on his head! We brought him, his wife who was nearby in shallower water, and their dog safely back to shore.” The RNLI have now warned beachgoers to check their tide tables before setting out for a walk in the future.
