Firefighter Mark Spinks with crew manager Terry Maher and firefighters Ellis Webb, Mark Timothy and Geoff Hircock

Dagenham firefighters save boy from drowning in boating accident

Tuesday, July 31, 2012
2:20 PM

Dagenham firefighters saved a boy from drowning after his leg was trapped in a boat’s propeller in a country park.

The schoolboy, thought to be 14-years-old, had his leg “cut to the bone” during the accident at Fairlop Waters Outdoor Activity Centre in Barkingside, according to a witness.

The Dagenham crew, which happened to be training close to the park when the drama unfolded just after 3pm on July 17, quickly realised that the boy’s shoelaces were caught.

A witness, who did not want to be named, said: “The blade cut into his calf. He was a really brave lad.”

The boy, from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Chingford, was submerged up to his neck, and Dagenham firefighters Geoff Hircock, Mark Timothy, Ellis Webb and Adam Flanagan entered the water to take over from country park staff, who had been supporting him.

The firefighters towed the boat to shallower waters, where they freed him and gave him first aid.

Dagenham’s station manager, Paul McClenaghan, said: “The actions of those firefighters saved the young man’s life. He had been in the water for nearly half an hour before we were alerted, so if we hadn’t been training nearby, this could have ended tragically.

“He was very pale when we got him out of the water, so the team kept him warm with tunics and survival blankets.”

The fire station boss indicated the crew would be commended for their actions.

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We sent an ambulance crew, a motorcycle paramedic and London’s Air Ambulance to the scene where our staff treated a boy reported to be 14 for a serious leg injury.

“The patient was taken by air to the trauma centre at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.”