Saltcoats man rescued boy adrift on inflatable unicorn at Southerness
- Published
The rescue took place at Southerness at the weekend
An athletics coach from Ayrshire has described how his summer holidays ended up with him rescuing a boy swept out to sea on an inflatable unicorn.
Paul Brennan, from Saltcoats, was at Southerness on Sunday with his family when the 10-year-old got into trouble.
His father jumped into the water first but he then leapt in to get to the boy - now some distance from the shore.
Mr Brennan was able to swim him slowly back to the south of Scotland beach where he was distressed but unharmed.
The incident happened at about 15:00 on the Dumfries and Galloway coast while Mr Brennan was at the beach with his family.
He saw the boy was a "considerable distance" from the shore.
"My first thought was to contact the coastguard because I didn't think it would be initially possible to get to the boy," he said.
"I was aware there was an offshore wind and the tide was heading out as well."
However, when Mr Brennan's 76-year-old father, James, went into the water to try to rescue the boy, he decided to follow suit.
"Given his age, I was aware he was probably a weak swimmer so that had an influence on my eventual decision to go into the water," he said.
"Once I started swimming out, I wasn't even sure I was catching up with the boy, but I just continued swimming.
"Then it became clear I was catching him, so I reckon after about 10 minutes I eventually caught up with the boy."
He said he thought that was about 500m (550yds) from the shore.
He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland that he could see the boy was clearly in distress as he reached him.
Paul Brennan was on holiday in the area with his family when he saw the boy had got into trouble
He said: "As I approached him I just said: 'That's you safe now.'
"I could see a big smile on him. I said: 'I'll give you a wee push back into shore.'
"Then I turned round and actually got a bit of a fright myself when I saw how far out I actually was."
He said it took longer on the return journey as he was holding onto the inflatable with one arm while swimming with the other.
Mr Brennan said he had been in contact with the boy's family since the incident and it appeared it had had no adverse effects.
"He had a good night's sleep that night and was up making scones the next morning," he said.
Safety advice
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency confirmed it had been called out to an incident at Southerness which had been resolved by the time its teams arrived.
It said blow up boats and toys could easily be blown out to sea, particularly if an offshore wind was blowing.
"We recommend enjoying inflatables at the swimming pool, not at the coast," said a statement.
"If people do find themselves being swept out to sea, our advice is to stay with the boat or toy and shout for help, waving their arms if possible.
"Do not attempt to swim for shore if you're out of your depth."