A day in the life…Lost at Sea!

I’ve always been a water baby – water brings me peace. I was the child that happily spent whole summer days floating along a river pretending to be John Everett Millais’ ’Ophelia’ while my family enjoyed a picnic with chattering teeth along the riverbank. Water is one of the few loves of my life that has never waned. As I’ve aged and unfortunately developed a disability, water has become even more important to me – the one place I’m weightless, get a little pain respite and importantly, I don’t need to use my cane in the water – nobody knows I’m any different at all.

Living in land-locked Leeds and unable to drive to West Yorkshire’s popular wild swimming spots, my ability to immerse myself in water is somewhat limited. If we visit my partner’s parents, we always go for a wild swim in a local river and I’ll never get over the peace that brought me the first time I was floating along with a low current in an ice cold river – suddenly I was 8 years old playing pre-Raphaelites in Santon Downham again.

Usually in the summertime we visit my parents in the Northeast and hit as many beaches as we can for a seaside swim. My favourite beach since I was about 15 has been, and remains, Saltburn. But that can be tricky if the car park is full and the funicular is out of action as it’s unfortunately not the most accessible. Recently my mam told me about a beach they’d visited which was beautiful and almost entirely flat, perfect! So a couple of weeks ago when we made it back to Teesside, we headed a little further to Sunderland to visit Seaburn beach on a beautiful sunny Saturday with no idea just how memorable this trip would turn out to be…

Once we’d arrived, my step-dad, my partner and I headed straight for the sea, making sure to enter between the two flags that identified the area that had been approved for swimming by the lifeguards. It was a little choppier than we’d expected considering the weather, but not the roughest sea I’d entered by a long shot. Minutes after entering the sea I found myself being taken further away by the sea, my step-dad smartly advised me to swim sideways to get myself back and that did the trick. But moments later, out I went again. I had no control over it whatsoever. I was caught in an invisible riptide. I know what to look out for when entering the sea to avoid a riptide (darker, deeper water with fewer breaking waves and a rippled surface surrounded by choppier water) but there were none of those signs. Later I found that even the lifeguards hadn’t been able to spot it, so I had no chance.

Initially, I panicked. When I found my ardent swimming was fruitless, I became momentarily frightened. The waves were hitting me hard and despite being a relatively strong swimmer, it was clear I wasn’t going to be making it over them and back to the sand, I shouted help to my step-dad, waving when I could as I found myself more and more adrift with the shoreline becoming a faraway place.

Luckily, as I spend the majority of my life in a state of panic, I’m uncharacteristically calm and collected in crises. Once I knew I couldn’t get back over the waves, I relaxed. I knew that either I would be rescued, or I wouldn’t – but that I had no control over either of those outcomes and I surrendered to my fate. Being somewhat morbid, as Tony Soprano would say: ”one of them witchy broads”, I had seen enough true crime and disaster media to know that the best thing I could do was stay calm and tread water. So I did.

I don’t know how long this all lasted, it felt simultaneously instantaneous and eternal. But every now and then I would lift my arms as high as I could and wave – hoping those on the shore would see me and know I was still there and needed help. I repeated to myself aloud:” You’re okay. You’re going to be fine” hoping I wasn’t telling myself a lie. Finally, I heard someone shouting ”Hello! You’re okay, I’m on my way to you! Don’t worry!”. Suddenly an angel on a body board appeared and as happy as I was to see her, I think she was equally surprised and happy to find me cool as a cucumber, just apologising for needing rescue and terribly embarrassed!

By this point I was exhausted from treading water and the exertion of trying to get myself back over the waves, so I wasn’t able to pull myself up on to her board. Instead, we both held on tight on either side and started kicking our way back to shore. At one point, I lost a swim shoe! Then let my other one go in tribute, despite feeling terrible for littering in the sea but glad that my swim shoes were the only thing I lost that day (plus maybe a little dignity).

Two men on a jet ski appeared, kit out in big helmets that made it difficult to hear them, but it was clear they wanted me to try and come aboard. The back of the jet ski was sloped with handles either side, so I mustered enough strength to drag myself up and onto the safety of the vehicle. Then one of them men threw himself over me, presumably a precaution to keep me safely on the jet ski, and off we went. The surreal nature of the day took its toll and I was overcome with the urge to giggle uncontrollably as we zoomed back to shore. Getting myself in check just in time to hear ‘Brace for impact!’ And we crashed onto land – that hurt, let me tell you.

I was safe, mortified, but safe.

Four days after my ordeal, Matt McDavid a father of two from Leeds had a similar experience in Flamborough about an hour south of where we’d been and unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky. This weighs heavily on my heart, knowing how close I came to not being here writing this silly little article for you to read. I was incredibly lucky; many people have a different fate at beaches in the UK every year.

I was rescued by three wonderful lifeguards from the RNLI – The Royal National Lifeboat Institution that are a charity organisation who’ve had lifeguards patrolling beaches since 2001. In 2024 alone they carried out over two million preventative actions, helped over 17,000 people and saved 85 lives. I’m confident if it wasn’t for their quick action that day, I wouldn’t be here to thank them.

The RNLI has been a charity for over 200 years and to this day relies on the kindness and generosity of its supporters to provide life-saving interventions – without people like us supporting them, people like me wouldn’t be here. You can support them by becoming a member and giving a monthly donation (which I did before I was even back in Yorkshire!), you can volunteer for them, you can leave them money in your will, and you can fundraise for them.

After all this, it would be easy to stay out of the water. But Jaws didn’t stop me and this won’t either. Once I was back in Leeds, I got straight to my local pool and got back to regular swimming and water aerobics classes. I’ve had a few wobbles when water got in my mouth or nose, but I use some of the grounding techniques I’ve learned from our relaxation, mindfulness and anxiety courses to keep myself calm and remember I’m safe.

What I’m going to do next is give back through fundraising. Being disabled limits my options somewhat, so what I’m going to do that’s within my capabilities and helps continue my exposure therapy is to complete a sponsored swim. I’m swimming regularly to build up my stamina and going to complete an hourlong swim aiming for at least 50 lengths in an hour. If you would like to sponsor me, either with a sum or per length, it would be greatly appreciated, and I’ll be forever grateful. Details of this fundraising are to be confirmed but I’ll be happy to share it with anyone who’s interested.

But I would love it if everyone who’s read this article, if nothing else, could share the great work they’d do. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your co-workers – sing the praises of this amazing organisation at every possible opportunity. Hopefully one day this organisation won’t have to rely on charity, but in the meantime, the more people know about the amazing work they’d do, the more money will come their way to put life-saving work into action.

As we approach another bank holiday weekend, visit beaches and rivers and enjoy the water wherever and whenever you can. But make sure you know you’re doing it safely. Don’t go in alone. Don’t go in if inebriated. Only swim where a lifeguard is present. Make sure you’re swimming within the allocated safe areas. And if you do all that and still find yourself in jeopardy the way I did – stay calm, treat water and keep waving for help, following the RNLI’s Float to live advice. If you’re on shore and see anyone who looks to be having trouble, alert a lifeguard immediately.

Just keep swimming!