Family of tragic kayaker call for more safety precautions in adventure sports
Dominic Jackson, 35, was found dead last week in Caithness
Last updated 15th Feb 2017
The family of tragic kayaker Dominic Jackson has called for more safety precautions in adventure sports.
The 35-year-old from Fettercairn was reported missing during a kayak expedition on Saturday February 4, 2017.
His kayak had washed ashore at Lybster four days previously. A full scale land, air and sea search and rescue operation was launched involving members and volunteers of the RNLI, Police Scotland and HM Coastguard.
The search also involved teams of local people together with Dom’s family and friends scouring the cliff tops searching for any sign of Dom.
His family has released a statement following his death.
It says: "Since Dom was first reported missing by his housemate on Sunday February 5 after failing to return home, the search to find Dom was filled with the hope and prayers of thousands of people right around the world who followed every media and social media update.
"Sadly Dom was most likely already dead before anyone even knew he was missing, an outcome which could have so easily been avoided had he been aware of and taken basic safety gear. Dom’s family - father Jeremy, brothers Stuart and Leighton, sisters Kirstie, Kate and Ellie together with his large extended family and friends - have all undergone a tremendous ordeal and in the midst of their grief are determined that Dom’s life will not have been lost in vain.
"His sister Ellie, who lives in Australia, has set up a fundraising page to start a charity, PLanB, which has already raised £8,000 pounds in just four days. PLanB’s mission is to make sure that anyone that participates in adventurous sports or activities has a Plan B for when the unexpected might happen and you find yourself in an emergency situation.
"Dom should have taken some very basic safety precautions such as logging in and out with family or friends and HM Coastguard to let them know of his plans for the day.
"He should have had more adequate provisions or survival gear especially when heading out into the freezing conditions.
"He should have had easy access to his mobile phone which was stored in a difficult to access hatch behind his seat. He also should have been wearing a Personal Locator Beacon, or PLB.
"A PLB is a small wearable device that operates using GPS and radio waves. When activated in an emergency it can pinpoint your location to within a few metres. They are relatively inexpensive (under £200), are lightweight and are not only for use when out on the water for kayakers, sailers, kite and windsurfers, etc, but can also be used for many land based adventures such as climbing, mountain biking and hill walking.
"They are an invaluable piece of equipment to help locate you and should always be part of your Plan B emergency kit.
"All money raised will be spent on initial costs involved in setting up a charity in Dom’s name. Once the charity has been set up and, working together with the support of the RNLI, the overall aim will be to campaign to raise awareness of the use of PLB’s and correct sea safety logging procedures via an app and website.
"Further down the track we would be looking to provide educational material to support the teaching of this information to children and adults to ensure that carrying a PLB at sea is as common to everyone as wearing a seatbelt in a car or a lifejacket on the water. We would also be looking to create the ability to hire out PLBs, and to fund the availability of PLBs to groups of water users and charities."