‘Don’t panic, stay awake:’ Here’s how a teen drowning at sea survived, UK video shows
A 17-year-old boy’s paddleboarding excursion in the United Kingdom ended with a desperate call for help after he was left stranded at sea with just two items that saved his life.
“I’m drowning,” the boy named Alfie told emergency responders.
“Don’t panic, Alfie. Just stay on your back. Stay awake. And keep your mouth shut,” members of the coastguard said as they deployed volunteers to find him.
It’s unclear how Alfie lost his paddleboard, but footage and audio released Tuesday by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution reveals that the boy said he was about four football fields away from the shore, near Pwllheli, a town in Wales. The rescue team doesn’t say in the video when the incident occurred.
The rescuers found Alfie “just a few minutes after he made the call,” and pulled him to their boat where he was flown to a hospital on a helicopter, according to the footage. He was released the same day “safe and well.”
Key to the boy’s survival were the only two items in his possession.
“If it wasn’t for Alfie’s life jacket and phone that day. It could have been a very different outcome,” the rescue team wrote in the video.
