Teenager praised for 'scary' beach rescue

A 16-year-old girl has been praised by her surf club after helping to rescue two people in difficulty along the Cornish coast.

Esme Deacon was with friends at Porthmeor Beach in St Ives when she noticed a man and a boy in the water calling for help on Thursday evening.

The father and son were attended to by paramedics after Esme used a bodyboard to guide them back to shore.

She said the rescue was "quite scary" but she felt proud of herself.

HM Coastguard said it sent a rescue team after it was alerted to "someone in the water" off Porthmeor Beach at about 18:30 BST.

Esme said: "We were all in the sea and all of a sudden I heard 'help' shouting from a man who was holding up his son in the water.

"Due to him holding his son up in the water, he was going under the water and they were both in a struggle."

Esme, who is a member of Hayle Surf Life Saving Club, said she used a tourist's body board to support the father and son back to shore because of her previous life saving training.

"Obviously, because they're in panic, they're going to try and grab on to you as much as they can, they're going to push you under the water so they can stay above the water," she said.

"That's why I made sure I went and got a bodyboard, so they were holding onto something else rather than me, otherwise I could have been pushed under and it could've ended in a different situation."

Nick Brown, Hayle Surf Life Saving Club captain, said he was proud of Esme who did "exactly the right thing".

"I'm proud that she's been training with us since she was eight or nine years old to be able to respond so quickly and so effectively and save those two people, the whole club is full of pride," he said.

"And obviously concerned, because it can be can be quite a shock to the rescuer as well."

The club recommended people do not attempt to rescue someone unless they were "really confident" and instead advised people to wave down a lifeguard or call 999 and ask for the coastguard.

Esme, who has recently completed a lifeguard qualification, said she was hoping to get into lifeguarding this year.

Once back to shore, Esme was helped by members of St Ives Surf Live Saving School, who brought over some medical equipment before emergency services arrived.

The man was taken to hospital after being recovered from the water, police said.

The Hayle Life Saving Club said it understood both of those rescued have since recovered.

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