Volunteers at Fenit RNLI were involved in a call-out on Tuesday night (17 September) to two swimmers in difficulty at Little Samphire Lighthouse near Fenit Pier. Lifeboat volunteers were on a training exercise at sea when the call was received and the lifeboat was immediately diverted to the scene. The two young men, who were staying with a family locally, had decided to swim from Fenit beach to the lighthouse and back when they realised they were not be able to return to the beach safely.
At the time, Denise Lynch, a station coxswain who was out kayaking, spotted the pair and went to check on them. They had just made it to the lighthouse but were freezing cold and felt that they would be unable to make the return swim. Denise then raised the call for help.
Fenit volunteer crew Padraig Brick and Cian Lawless were out in the station’s inshore lifeboat on exercise, with coastal trainer Sean Ginnelly, when the lifeboat was diverted from exercise to go to the aid of the young men. Taking the two casualties onboard the lifeboat, the volunteer crew took them back into the safety of the harbour and inside the lifeboat station, where they were put into thermal layers used by the lifeboat crew. The two swimmers were extremely cold but were in good spirits.
RNLI volunteer coxswain Terry Sheehy, who had been monitoring the situation from the station, went and collected their clothes from the beach and alerted the place they were staying. Commenting on the call-out, Sean Ginnelly said:.