Eyemouth Harbour wave accident: Katie MacLean swept into sea helping friend
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Version 0 of 1. A girl is in a critical but stable condition in hospital after trying to rescue a friend who was swept out to sea in the Scottish Borders. Katie MacLean, 14, tried to pull her friend Tempany Sylvester to safety when waves washed her off steps at the harbour wall at Eyemouth on Monday. However, Katie was swept into the sea and knocked unconscious while Tempany, 13, was pulled ashore by a passer-by. Katie was flown to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. Witnesses said Katie was in the water face down. Several men tried to hold onto another man's legs in a bid to reach her but she was continually forced out of his reach by strong waves. At first she was able to swim and people were trying to reach her with dog leads in a bid to rescue her. However, she then tired and was hit continually against the wall with the waves. Two police officers then dived into the sea and managed to hold her up to the man who was stretched out trying to reach her. The incident started at about 15:30 after three girls were playing in the spray behind the harbour wall. Witnesses said there was a lull in the strong waves so two of the girls, Katie and Tempany, went down a nearby staircase, where the waves became stronger again and knocked them off. Norman Richardson, 53, who took part in the rescue, confirmed that Tempany had fallen into the water first and Katie had tried to help her. He said: "Katie was leaning out from the wall trying to reach Tempany who had fallen in first. "A swell then struck and washed Katie off the wall where she was dragged under water while trying to save her friend." Tempany's mother Julie Tyler said: "My daughter is still in shock, in fact we are all still in shock. "We are all very shaken up. Tempany is OK but she still has cuts, bruises and scrapes and we are all just waiting to hear about Katie now. "We have heard Katie is due to come round today and we just hope she is alright. "My daughter was the first one out the water and I really want to say thank you to everyone who was involved in the rescue. "One woman was down at the beach with her son and she was first in the water to pull my daughter out, and I am so thankful to her." Gail Murdie, 41, from Bonnyrigg, who was enjoying a day out with her three sons and husband in Eyemouth, told the BBC Scotland news website it was like "a nightmare scene out of a film". She said: "It was terrible, frightening and my son could not get to sleep last night because he kept worrying about the girl. "I remember three girls with their towels having a great time getting soaked by the waves crashing over the wall. "It was a lovely day but the sea was wild and a big wave even managed to soak us and we were further back than the girls were. "Then it died down for a wee bit so the girls went down the steps and that's when I heard a woman shout that one of the girls had been swept into the water." Mrs Murdie's husband David, 37, then held on to a man's legs as he leaned into the sea in a bid to grab the girl. Floatation rings Mr Murdie said: "I'm from Dunbar and flotation rings are easily found there. A few of us were looking for them near the sea wall at Eyemouth, but we couldn't see any. "Somebody got a ratchet strap, something that can be used on a lorry to hold things in place. A couple of us tied a guy to the strap and held the end of the strap whilst he jumped in. Unfortunately, because of the waves he could not reach the girl. "She wasn't making any noise, she was just trying to swim. She was swimming and then all of a sudden she stopped. "The poor girl was just being slammed against the wall. The waves knocked her around to the other side of the steps. "Something really needs to be done about safety in the area in terms of making floatation rings more easily available." |