Lifeguards Adam Pitman, Coral Lewis and Jon Johnson, who saved the lives of 40 people in Tenby after a sandbank collapsed on South Beach. Photograph: RNLI/PA
The idea was to give youngsters from deprived areas, some of whom had never dipped a toe in the sea before, an idea of what it was like to wade out into the waves. Sadly, it all went badly wrong for the boys and girls, not to mention the organisers, of the Action Camp event when a sandbank gave way and 36 fully clothed youngsters had a closer encounter with the chilly sea off west Wales than anyone would have wished for.
What followed was a rescue operation that would not have looked out of place in an episode of Baywatch, involving RNLI lifeguards, coastguards, the police and an air ambulance as the three dozen youngsters were helped out of the sea.
It turned out as well as could be hoped for, with only two of the group needing medical treatment, but the RNLI said six lives would have been lost if lifeguards had not intervened, and organisers of Action Camp spent explaining to parents how the exercise had almost ended in disaster. Action Camp will also face questions from the Health and Safety Executive tomorrow and has decided not to repeat the activity at future events.
The idea of Action Camp is to take youngsters from deprived areas of Wales and teach them about problems facing the planet, such as climate change, and also to give them new experiences. On Saturday afternoon, on the south beach at Tenby, the youngsters, aged 13 to 20, were split into groups under the supervision of an adult leader, told to link hands, and instructed to wade out backwards up to their waists.
Unfortunately, the spot they chose was a sandbank known as the White Back, known to be hazardous by local people. The party waded out, laughing and joking, unaware of what lay beneath. The RNLI said the sandbank suddenly collapsed because the tide changed and all 40 people – 36 children and four adults – found themselves out of their depths.
According to the RNLI, two of its lifeguards, Adam Pitman and Jon Johnson, charged into the water with rescue boards and tubes and brought the party back to shore. An RNLI spokeswoman said the lifeguards performed first aid on two casualties, one who had had an asthma attack and the other because the lifeguards feared his lungs were damaged.
Dave Miller, coastguard sector manager in South Pembrokeshire, said: "The lifeguards did a superb job today. If not for their fast response and the methods they used, lives would have been lost."
Johnson said: "As I got there all 40 of them were on the sandbank and about knee deep in water. Then the sandbank shifted in the tide and suddenly a lot of them were out of their depths.
"Some of them were swimming fine but others were struggling because it's not easy when you're fully clothed. Some of them went under and we went straight into the water with rescue boards.
"Even if we had been half a mile away at the unit on the beach, the time needed to get there could have proved fatal."
Bill Fitzgerald, the leader of the group, thanked the lifeguards for their help – but claimed the incident had been exaggerated. He said that only two young people had been out of their depth. Of the two who had needed medical treatment, one had simply swallowed a mouthful of water. The second was a strong swimmer who had asthma. Both were fine, he said.
"The reason for doing this is that a number of Welsh youngsters have never even seen the sea. There is always a risk when going into the sea but we feel we managed the risk from our point of view."
At first Fitzgerald said the organisation would continue to run the exercise, but later changed his mind. "With hindsight we won't do it again," he said. "I'm sad on behalf of the kids. There's a danger that they will never be able to face a risk and I think society suffers as a result of that."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jul/26/tenby-young-people-lifeguard-rescue