A BRAVE Kingswinford schoolboy has given a first-hand account of how he saved another boy from drowning on a Cornish beach in the latest episode of the RNLI’s 200 Voices podcast.
Finley Hassall, from Kingswinford, takes listeners through the incident which unfolded as he was on a family holiday with his family in Hayle last summer.
Finley, who had decided to go bodyboarding with his brother when he realised something was wrong, used the RNLI’s Float to Live technique to help save a fellow youngster from drowning.
He said: “I noticed someone in the water splashing around for help. I realised that someone was in trouble because I had this feeling that something was not right… he was splashing around… and he was trying to use his rugby ball to try and float.
Finley was bodyboarding in chest-high water, but the boy in difficulty was drifting deeper and further out.
The courageous schoolboy said he started to swim over to the boy and asked if he needed help and the youngster replied: “I can swim but the current is too strong for me.”
So Finley, who was 11 at the time, told him: “Float like a starfish”
Finley, a strong swimmer, had been having swimming lessons from a very young age and for this fifth birthday his nan, who lives by the coast, got him a subscription to the RNLI’s Storm Force magazine.
Remembering the Float to Live message shared by Stormy Stan and his cartoon gang, Finley was able to spot the signs of someone in danger and calmly work out what to do.
He said: “I knew what to do because it was all thanks to Storm Force. In one of the magazines they taught me how to do it and thanks to my swimming I learnt how to drag him… I put my arms underneath him and took him back to shore until he could find his footing.”
RNLI Lifeguard Guy Potter was soon on scene to help and checked the boy over after Finley had swan him back to shore.
Finley recalls: “That’s when I realised I’d actually made a difference.
“I thought it wasn’t a big deal I just saved someone’s life, I’m just happy he’s OK – but now I realise what I’ve done and how it’s helped out loads of people.”
Finely was later congratulated by the RNLI for his lifesaving actions – when lifeguard Guy visited his school to present him with a certificate.
People can listen to the Future Lifeguard: Finley Hassall podcast by visiting RNLI.org/200Voices
The RNLI’s 200 Voices podcast is releasing a new episode every day for 200 days, in the run-up to the charity’s bicentenary on March 4, 2024, exploring captivating stories from the charity’s history and through to the current day.
The charity has been saving lives at sea since it was founded in 1824.
Funded by voluntary donations, and with lifeboats crewed by specially-trained volunteers, the RNLI’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved more than 144,000 lives in the charity’s 200-year history.
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