Boy saves man's life in 'textbook' surf rescue

A 14-year-old boy who rescued a seriously injured paddleboarder in a rough sea has been praised for saving the man's life with a "textbook rescue".

Oscar paddled to the aid of a man who had been hit on the head by his board, leaving him temporarily paralysed in heavy surf at Saunton Sands in Devon on Friday.

Working alone, Oscar pulled Gavin Bowden, 60, on to his board, signalled to the shore for help and kept him afloat for about 30 minutes before the RNLI inshore lifeboat arrived.

Mr Bowden, who was treated in hospital until Monday, said "Oscar is my hero".

Oscar, a junior surf lifesaver at the club, said he did not hesitate to act to help the man, even though he was much bigger than him.

He said: "I saw someone had been injured on their board and just instinctively went over to them to see if they were OK, which they weren't and then I helped them.

"I was quite scared at the beginning that I wouldn't be able to lift him because he's quite a big guy but I just had the determination to help him."

Oscar said the man had told him he had no feeling in his arms or legs and he had a cut on his forehead.

Despite waves flipping the board over, the young lifesaver succeeded in lifting the man half on to the paddleboard.

He said the swell had been increasing and the waves were "looking menacing" so he took the decision to head further out rather than risk trying to get to the shore.

He said: "I knew he had a big board strapped to his leg and if I tried to go in and a wave came and he gets hit off, he'd get dragged in and I might lose sight of him - it could've just got so much worse."

Mr Bowden said the blow from the board had left him paralysed face down in the water.

He said he managed to flip over and started shouting for help.

He said: "I called 'help' three times and then Oscar was there and said 'I'm here'.

"He was trying to hang on to me and trying to wave and I was saying 'don't leave me kid, don't leave me' and he was saying 'I won't leave you, I won't leave you'."

Oscar said: "I started to calm him down because he almost started panicking and he was worrying about what was going to happen next but I just tried to keep him calm whilst waving to dad and Neil."

His father Danny had been watching Oscar surf from the shore with Neil Phillips, a coach for Saunton Sands Surf Life Saving Club juniors.

Danny said: "The first way we realised something was wrong was when we just saw two dots close together and a small arm waving frantically with the correct signals of a surfer in distress in the water."

He phoned the coastguard and approached surfers on the beach but none of them were able to reach Oscar and the injured man in the building swell.

Danny said there had been an element of uncertainty as they tried to ascertain whether it was his son or the paddleboarder who had been injured but Oscar's signals confirmed he was the one doing the rescuing.

Mr Phillips said: "Oscar's rescue was just textbook.

"I'm very good friends with Gavin so I was doubly emotionally invested watching Oscar looking after a friend of mine.

"I'm really proud of Oscar. He was just amazing, he saved a life."

A RNLI inshore lifeboat crew arrived at the scene after about 30 minutes and took Mr Boden to shore, from where he was taken to the Royal Devon Hospital in Exeter for emergency treatment.

Oscar paddled to shore and was met by his father and Mr Phillips.

He said: "When I got to the beach it kind of hit me and I was a bit sad and a bit upset but I talked to my dad and called mum, they helped a lot."

Adrian Mayhew, national operations and safety manager at Surf Life Saving GB, said: "I've been in lifesaving since 1997 and I've never seen anybody of such a young age go out in waves as big as that and have the maturity to recognise the situation, recognise they need assistance and to manage that for 30 minutes is literally unheard of."

On Thursday Mr Bowden said he was getting better although his hands were still numb due to his spinal cord having been stretched when the board hit his head.

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