Semi-conscious man rescued from mud on uninhabited island in Poole Harbour
He was found with his head just above the water
A man has been taken to hospital after being rescued from what is described as a 'very treacherous' part of Holes Bay in Poole.
Poole’s inshore lifeboat was tasked by UK Coastguard at 10.15am yesterday morning to a report of a person stuck in the mud on the north side of Pergins Island.
Pergins Island is a small uninhabited island at the back of Holes Bay.
The lifeboat got as far as it could, it was at the top of the tide and extremely shallow.
With time critical, two crew members went ashore onto the Island and headed around on foot.
Poole Coastguard Rescue Team were at the back of Upton House Park and helped to direct the lifeboat crew towards the casualty from the shore.
A spokesperson for RNLI Poole Lifeboat Station said:
"The lifeboat crew found the casualty laid in a gully, his head just above the water, he was semi-covered in mud, they pulled him out of the water, he was conscious but only responsive to voice, very cold and quite poorly, they administered first aid, and requested a helicopter to attend."
"Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue service arrived on scene, and they deployed their raft and rescue equipment, they paddled, and half swam across to the island.
"The lifeboat crew assisted in transferring the casualty onto the raft and with the firefighters, transferred the casualty to the land side of Upton Country Park, where the helicopter had arrived on scene and landed in an adjacent field."
Volunteer Helm Ed Davies added:
"We were on scene pretty quickly from launching, the lifeboat volunteers were with the casualty in about 15 minutes, crucial when time was of the essence.
"It is a very difficult area of the harbour to get to and we were really fortunate that with the falling tide, we had just enough water to land some crew onto the island, so that they could get to the casualty straight away."