Teen rescued on live TV 'thankful' for RNLI crew

A 13-year-old boy who was rescued live on television six months ago after being stranded by the tide has met the volunteers who saved him.

Kaan was playing with friends in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, in June, when he swum out to a sandbar after being carried by the tide.

Alongside his mum, Sam, Kaan was able to thank the crew members from Wells RNLI lifeboat station who rescued him when visiting their station on Beach Road on Tuesday.

"I can still remember how quickly the sandbank began disappearing and the relief when the RNLI lifeboat reached me," the 13-year-old said.

The moment Kaan found himself stranded was captured on BBC Look East as journalist, Debbie Tubby reported from the beach following reports 40 people had been cut off by the tide the previous weekend.

BBC cameras continued rolling while the RNLI crew carried out the rescue.

Kaan said he had been playing in the water and when he tried to put his feet down he realised he could no longer touch the ground.

He said: "I'm happy to see all the faces of the people who saved me... something bad could have happened but they ended up saving me and I'm just really thankful.

"The stuff they do, not everyone wants to do it. It's not something everyone is willing to do."

Sam, when speaking days after the rescue, said: "I felt confident in the fact I could see them [RNLI] coming down the ramp, and I knew they were on their way."

She added on Tuesday: "As we head towards Christmas when the volunteers could be called away from their own families, I felt that it was important to visit the lifeboat station to say a heartfelt, thank you, on behalf of my own family."

She said it was nice to be able to thank crew members in person after events on the day happened so quickly.

"[It] gets the message across, it doesn't matter if you're living within the area, outside of the area, these things can still happen and it's an important message to get across to people to be aware of the sirens and the four hours you need to get back to the beach," she said.

Mandy Humphreys, the volunteer water safety adviser at Wells RNLI, said: "Even at this time of year, unfortunately people can still get into trouble in the water.

"To avoid being cut off by the tide in the area, please make sure that you are back to the main part of the beach (dry sand or land) at least four hours before Wells Bar high tide time."

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