Safety kit saves life of fisherman
This is the story of a life saved. Because the fisherman was wearing a PFD and a PLB. It is no exaggeration to say: They are life savers. Get the kit. Wear the kit. Live to tell your story too.
Ben Squires and Paul Reed
What had started out as an ordinary working day for commercial fisherman Paul turned into his worst nightmare when he went overboard from the Sidney Rose, miles from land.
But his decision to put on a lifejacket that morning, equipped with a locator beacon, likely saved his life. He鈥檚 been fishing for 38-years and has had just the one man overboard experience. But once is all it takes to never return to shore again.
Paul activated his PLB, which alerted HM Coastguard to his position immediately 鈥� and sent the Plymouth and Salcombe RNLI lifeboats, the Hope Cove Independent lifeboat and the search and rescue helicopter from Newquay to look for him.
His skipper then raised the alarm with a Mayday, confirming to authorities that the alert they were searching for was, in fact, a man overboard.
He was found, 67 minutes later, cold but otherwise unharmed.
Paul said:
I鈥檓 very glad it turned out well, you hear the stories and know it doesn鈥檛 always turn out this way. My message to other fishermen is simple: Wear a lifejacket. I did and it saved me life.
They鈥檙e only small, they don鈥檛 get in the way when you鈥檝e got them on, you get used to them, and if I didn鈥檛 have mine on, I wouldn鈥檛 be talking to you now.
So watch our safety film, hear the message and remember that these small bits of safety kit could be a massive reason for returning home one day.