Lifeboat aids woman with chest injury

According to the RNLI, the woman was unsure of her boat’s exact position but a nearby vessel was able to tell the coastguard that she was approximately 15 miles to the south west of Shoreham.

The sea was deemed too rough for the woman to be transferred to the lifeboat.

By the time the lifeboat arrived, two crew members from the nearby vessel had already gone aboard the stricken boat, dropped the sails and started the engine.

Two lifeboat crew members then boarded the boat to assess the woman’s condition.

It was decided that the lifeboat would escort the womans’ boat back to the harbour.

But after travelling for a few minutes, the injured woman began complaining that the motion of the boat and the rough seas were causing her too much pain.

The nearby vessel’s rigid inflatable boat was then used to transfer the injured woman to the lifeboat.

Once back in Shoreham Harbour, the woman was taken ashore to an awaiting ambulance which took her to hospital.

The lifeboat then re-launched to the injured woman’s boat and escorted it back into the harbour before putting it back on its mooring.

The RNLI is a registered charity that relies on voluntary donations to maintain its rescue service.