Wet, cold and lucky to be alive, boy of 11 rescued from beach near Sidmouth

THIS is the young boy who was dramatically rescued in Sidmouth after spending all night stranded on the beach near Weston Mouth.

The 11 year-old from Honiton, who had gone walking with two friends, aged 16 and 10, from Seaton to Sidmouth on Saturday, fell back after twisting his ankle and was stuck on the coast as night fell.

The alarm was raised by his parents around 8pm, but police initially went searching locally, not knowing he had attempted the six hour walk to Sidmouth.

He was eventually found by Portland Coastguard helicopter after coastguards were alerted on Sunday morning.

Beer Coastguard station manager Terry Hoare said they were surprised to find the boy so well, adding: “We had feared the worst given the awful conditions, he had been out on the beach by himself in the dark all night. The torrential rain, gale force South-westerly winds and tides overnight and into Sunday would have made it impossible for the lad to find any shelter, and there were grave concerns for his wellbeing.

“This young lad was extremely lucky.”

He was kept in hospital at Exeter overnight after hypothermia had started to set in, but managed, as pictured by James Woollacott, to walk unaided to the helicopter with his rescuers.

*See Friday’s Sidmouth Herald for more photos and full story.