A charity curry night in Pwllheli had to be cut short when pagers started bleeping.

Pwllheli RNLI volunteers were just tucking into their curry at their annual fundraising night when the pagers sounded on Friday night because of a possible person in the water who had been knocked off their paddle board.

As the event was only held 500 yards from the station the crew quickly assembled and launched the inshore lifeboat Robert J Wright into the harbour at 9.34pm.

After an initial search along the shoreline, the casualty was found in the water holding on to their paddle board. They were quickly brought onto the inshore lifeboat as they had been subjected to cold water for a prolonged period.

Upon arrival on the beach, the crew were still not satisfied with the condition of the casualty and a decision was made to call for an ambulance to assess the condition of the casualty further. The crew transferred the casualty to the care of the paramedics and returned to station.

Bryn Ellis, helmsman on-board, said: “If anyone finds themselves in difficulty whilst on a paddle board or similar board, they should always stay with their board and always carry a mean of contacting the coastguard if in any difficulty. If you do get detached from your board, and fall in the water, fight the instinct to swim until the cold water shock passes, lean back and extend your arms and legs, float until you can control your breathing and, only when your breathing is under control, call for help or swim to safety.”

The fundraising meanwhile continued in full swing while the inshore lifeboat was on service, with acts from Heather Dackombe, Michelle Nash and Kirk Ward, with everyone enjoying a curry freshly prepared by Pontoon.

The night was a sell-out event raising in excess of £1,000 towards the Boathouse Appeal to house the new Shannon Class Lifeboat that’s due to arrive in 2020.

The next morning, the marina berth holders were out in force conducting a beach clean along Abererch beach.

In total, the volunteers collected 14 bags of rubbish which generated £45 in the raffle afterwards, a great total with the contributions also going towards the Boathouse Appeal.

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