The volunteer crew for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in Newhaven will feature in Thursday (Aug 25) night's episode of Saving Lives At Sea on BBC Two.
The primetime documentary series will feature footage captured on helmet cameras as well as interviews with lifeboat crews, lifeguards and the people who man the phones. They'll also be talking to people who've been rescued.
The popular 10-part documentary is now in its seventh series, having been around the UK and Ireland, looking at the type of work crews are faced with.
The series will begin on Thursday this week at 8pm on BBC Two and will also be available on BBC iPlayer following broadcast.
This forthcoming episode, on Thursday 25 August, includes Newhaven RNLI’s rescue of two paragliders on Christmas Eve last year. While most people were busy preparing for the festive celebrations the volunteer crew dropped everything and went to the rescue of the pair who had fallen into the sea.
Despite challenging tidal conditions, the pair were safely brought back to shore and handed into the care of waiting paramedics, whilst crews returned home to start their Christmas celebrations. The incident features on the programme alongside rescue stories from other RNLI stations and beaches around our coasts.
Lewis Arnold, coxswain/mechanic at Newhaven RNLI, who will feature in the upcoming episode said:
"I’d just cleaned up the station, had put the dog on the lead and was going home to wrap some presents when the pager went off, so Plan B went into action!
"When we arrived both paragliders were on a rocky ledge with the tide coming and no phone signal. One of them jumped in and swam towards us, but the second, who couldn’t swim was knocked off the ledge by a wave."
In rough seas the volunteer crew of Newhaven’s Severn class lifeboat launched its Y boat (a smaller inflatable rescue boat carried on board) that could get closer to the shore and both men were rescued. "They were really grateful," said Lewis. "I don’t think they realised how bad it was, particularly since one of them couldn’t swim. Thankfully we were able to get them home to their families for Christmas."
"Our lifesaving work such as this rescue would not be possible without donations from the public and we are delighted to be able to share a frontline view of the rescues they support with their kind generosity," he added.
In 2021, RNLI lifeboat crews around the UK and Ireland aided 12,903 people, saving 296 lives, while the charity’s lifeguards aided 18,180 people and saved 112 lives on some of the UK’s busiest beaches. During that year Newhaven RNLI launched 46 times, saved two lives and aided 72 people.
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