This Saturday, July 23, a 6-year-old boy was rescued by the SNSM in the open Mediterranean Sea, in Narbonne-Plage, after drifting offshore on his inflatable buoy.
A drama has been narrowly avoided, this Saturday, July 23 in Narbonne-Plage, a seaside resort located in the Aude department. At the end of the day, a small 6 year old boy was quietly having fun in the water, on his buoy with his father by his side, when suddenly the wind picked up and did it drift away from shorereported The Independent. The father of the young child tried to catch him swimming, in vain, the wind was too strong. So he contacted the Cross Med emergency number (Regional Operational Center for Surveillance and Rescue of the Mediterranean), the 196which for its part alerted the SNSM (National Society for Rescue at Sea).
Quickly, two rescue teams, aboard the star Notre-Dame-des-Auzils III and the Zodiac Patron Jean Carbonel, were deployed in the direction of the area where the child was. In the meantime, two witnesses to the scene have contacted Cross Med to provide them with more information. Thanks to these indications, the rescuers managed to adapt their course and quickly saw the child in the open sea. At that time, the young boy on his buoy had already drifted about 3.5 kilometers from the coast.
A rescue that ends well
Rescuers managed to find thechild safe and sound. The latter did not seem more panicked than that by the situation, he was apparently just impressed by the imposing boat of the rescuers coming towards him. Once on board, it was examined and the professionals found no no physical sequelae. The procession returned to dry land around 10 p.m.
This story, which fortunately ends well, reminds us of the importance of gestures to know when going to the beach with a child, in particular it is forbidden to use any pneumatic object in the event of strong land winds announced. As a rule, these indications on the weather conditions are entered directly at the first aid station on the beaches. Last year, a barely 1-year-old baby was also found more than 1 km from the shore. The risks are real!