General Discussion

Helicopter searching over the sea plus another hovering over the Elm Grove Estate. Anyone any idea whats going on?

Apparently 2 or 3 people were in the sea & have been rescued by Exmouth lifeboat. Don't know how they got there in the first place, sea has been very rough all day.

Hi Guys This story made the newspapers in Glasgow. Two girls were saved from the sea after clinging on to a spacehopper A SPACEHOPPER saved two drowning girls after they were washed off a pier by giant waves. The balloon-like toy with handles was thrown to the pair after they were swept out too far to reach a lifebuoy. The girls - aged 15 and 16 - managed to grab it and use it as a float to reach the lifebuoy. The Exmouth inshore lifeboat plucked the girls from the rough sea at Dawlish, Devon, as they were "minutes from drowning". Bricklayer Matthew Gribble, 24, threw the spacehopper to them when the lifebuoy failed to reach them. His pal Leigh Larratt said: "It was a brilliant throw. The spacehopper saved the day." .....from Daily Record http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2010/10/12/girls-rescued-from-drowning-after-hanging-on-to-spacehopper-86908-22627683/ Also a bit about it in the Sun Newspaper http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3174276/Space-hopper-saves-girls.html

another local lad called andy richies was also involved

Hi PJD Andrew got a mention in the Sun newspaper. I'll post the article below TWO terrified teenage girls swept out to sea were saved from drowning - by a SPACE HOPPER. The inflatable toy was thrown to the panic-stricken pair after they were taken too far out to reach a life buoy. The girls, aged 15 and 16, were moments away from drowning in rough conditions. But they managed to grab on to the orange plaything and float to a buoy while a lifeboat crew rushed out to save them off Dawlish in Devon. Bricklayer Matthew Gribble, 24, had heard the girls' screams from his flat in the seaside town. He ran almost a mile to the seawall and joined by pals Andrew Riches and Leigh Larratt, both also 24, they threw them something to cling to - but it wouldn't reach. A resident then appeared from their home carrying the bulky space hopper and Matthew hurled it out to sea. Leigh said: "We were just trying to scream to them to swim to the life buoy. "The only thing that saved them was one of my neighbours, Shane, brought out a space hopper. "Matt, with a brilliant throw, managed to get it right next to the girls "The space hopper saved the day." Lifeboat crews from Exmouth and Teignmouth and a rescue helicopter from Portland, Dorset, were scrambled. Matt said: "They were fighting for their lives when we arrived. "We grabbed torpedo life-saving buoys and threw them to the girls. They were shouting for help and kept bobbing up from under the waves. "The sea was really rough and they kept going under. Advertisement "We thought they were going to drown but the girl in the worst state was being held up with her head above the water by the other." The Exmouth crew battled strong winds and ferocious waves to pluck the girls to safety, who were treated in an Exeter hospital. Lifeboat helmsman Giles White said: "A few more minutes and the girls would most likely have drowned. They were so near to dying. "Any longer and we would have been pulling out bodies." The 15-year-old, who was semi-conscious and had inhaled sea water, was released from hospital after a night in intensive care.