Woman sends life-saving message after sea rescue

A woman who helped rescue two boys who had got into difficulty in the sea has stressed the importance of floating on your back if in trouble in water.

Caroline Robb, 60, from Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, helped save the lives of the two brothers off the coast of Hunstanton, Norfolk, on 14 August.

The former Metropolitan police officer said when she got into the water she kept shouting at them to lie on their backs and not to panic.

The boys' mother from Corby, Northamptonshire, told her that she would be grateful to her for the rest of her life and described Robb as her "guardian angel".

Robb said she was supporting the RNLI's campaign "Float to Live", which urges people who get into difficulty to tilt their head back, relax and float like a starfish until help arrives.

The charity said floating gives people a chance to rest and recover their breathing.

Robb was walking her dog on Hunstanton beach when she heard shouting and could see two figures out to sea.

When she realised they were struggling she did not hesitate to get into the water.

She managed to swim to the older 15-year-old brother, who was closer to the shore, but she said she "could not reach the bottom and the tide just swept me".

She thought he was going to pull her under but she managed to get him to the beach where two men helped him out of the sea.

Meanwhile she thought his younger 12-year-old brother was still out at sea.

"I was genuinely thinking he had gone under and thought I would have to live with that," she said.

But she had not seen an RNLI hovercraft had rescued the 12-year-old and then the crew came to the shore to help his elder brother.

The coastguard helicopter was also called to the scene.

Robb's husband told her that afterwards she sank down in the sand and started sobbing with exhaustion.

He said she had swum about 300m out to sea, but she said she "did not really know".

In a statement Hunstanton RNLI said it was paged to attend a multi-agency call out.

On arrival, they provided casualty care to the people who had been brought to shore, along with other emergency services.

Robb, who retired from the police 31 years ago, said she was an artistic swimmer when she was young and had completed life-saving courses.

However she said she does not like the sea and always tells her own children not to go in it.

She now works at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, which praised her actions, adding: "A massive well done to our staff member Caroline Robb, who swam into the sea to save two brothers from drowning while on her holiday. We're proud of you Caroline!"

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