Two off-duty police officers pull child from the sea

Two off-duty police officers pulled a child from the sea after the boy got into difficulty struggling against a rip tide at Hope Cove. 

Kingsbridge-based officer PC Simon Cooper and his friend and Met Police officer DC Nathan Brown were on Hope Cove beach with their families on Sunday, 27 May, when they helped prevent a disaster.

L-R: Police officers PC Nathan Brown and PC Simon Cooper

PC Cooper explained that his friend DC Brown was visiting from London and the pair and their families were spending the day on Hope Cove beach, Mouthwell Sands. 

"It was choppy and quite rough, we had the bodyboards out", Simon explained. "We spotted a kayak or canoe that had filled with water down at the edge of the shore, so we assumed someone had left it too close to the water and strolled down to pull it further up the beach. 

"As we were walking towards it a young kid, about 14-years-old, was struggling in from the sea, but he said to us 'there's someone stuck out there'. So I swam out to see if I could see anyone stuck in one of the inlets that are all around that area. 

"I was looking and calling out and couldn't see or hear anything and then I heard screaming from out at sea. I turned round and couldn't see anything, the sea was quite rough, and then I suddenly spotted a little head. 

"I swam out to him and managed to get him in, Nathan met me on the way back to the beach with one of the bodyboards and we got him on that and into the beach."

Talking about being in the right place at the right time, Simon explained that the Coastguard helicopter arrived just as they got back to dry land.

He said: "He might have been alright without us being there, I don't know, but by the time I got to him he was exhausted, really cold and had swallowed quite a lot of seawater. Potentially, he was really lucky we were there and happened to go down to check out that kayak."

He thought the youngster was around 11-years-old, and had been washed off the rocks with his friend and was then struggling against the rip current. When Simon got to him, he was about 100 meters from the beach. 

Mouthwell Sands - shared by Kingsbridge Coastguard Rescue Team 

A spokesperson for Kingsbridge Coastguard Rescue Team said: "On Sunday Kingsbridge Coastguard Rescue Team were tasked by Falmouth Coastguard alongside multiple assets including Hope Cove Lifeboat, Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 924, and Devon & Cornwall Police, after two children were caught in a rip current at Hope Cove.

"Thanks to the acts of two off duty Police officer’s and other members of the public both children were rescued and brought safely ashore. 

"This serves as a reminder to visit a Lifeguarded beach. Our colleagues RNLI Lifeguards South Devon will be back patrolling Hope Cove from the 6 July, in the mean time they have RNLI Lifeguards patrolling everyday 10am-6pm at Bantham, Bigbury, and Challaborough."