A major emergency response was sparked when a teenager girl got into difficulty in the North Sea, and after being airlifted to hospital she remains in a critical condition
A young girl is in a critical condition in hospital after getting into difficulty after swimming in the sea.
The child, not yet identified, is fighting for her life after being pulled from the water by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Emergency services and rescue teams raced to the aid of the teenage at Whitley Bay beach after reports that someone was struggling after going into the ocean.
A major rescue operation was launched on Thursday afternoon and the girl was able to be recovered to shore, where she received medical attention before being airlifted to hospital. Northumbria Police confirmed that she remains in hospital in a critical condition, and officers continue to support her next of kin.
It was around 4.20pm when the HM Coastguard was alerted to the incident at the coast near Spanish City car park. During the incident, a police cordon was put in place on the promenade and a multi-agency presence remained in the area throughout the evening.
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A spokesperson for HM Coastguard told ChronicleLive in a statement: “A girl reported to be in difficulty in the water at Whitley Bay was recovered to shore by Whitley Bay lifeguards and passed into the care of an air ambulance for transfer to hospital
“HM Coastguard was informed at about 4.20pm on 24 July and sent an HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter, and Blyth and Newbiggin Coastguard Rescue Teams. The RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat from Tynemouth was also sent as well as Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade. North East Ambulance Service and Northumbria Police were informed.”
A spokesperson for North East Ambulance Service confirmed: “We received a call at just after 4.40pm of a teenager found face down in the water and was being pulled onto the beach. We dispatched two paramedic ambulances, the air ambulance, a specialist critical care paramedic, a hazardous area response team (HART) crew and a duty officer. The patient was airlifted to hospital.”
A spokesperson for the Great North Air Ambulance Service said: “Our critical care team was activated at 4.50pm to an incident on Whitley Bay beach. We had two doctors and a paramedic on board our aircraft and they arrived on scene at 5.06pm. Our team worked alongside the North East Ambulance Service to assess and treat a patient before airlifting them to hospital.”