Littlehampton RNLI crews save surfer from rough sea

Coastguards called out the RNLI after receiving a report that the 31-year-old man had encountered difficulty in the choppy sea, on Saturday, shortly after 2pm.

The crew discovered the surfer clinging to his board in the sea. One of his legs had become painfully entangled in the kite’s rigging lines. He was extremely cold after spending about 40 minutes in the water.

He was given first aid and taken back to the lifeboat station, where an ambulance was waiting to take him to Worthing Hospital.

Lifeboat operations manager Nick White said the man visited the station the next morning to thank the crew: “The sea conditions were at the high-end of the scale in which we can operate safely. He knew how lucky he was to be rescued after spending so long in the water in those conditions.”