[snova]

14:34 GMT, 17 August 2012

Prince William flies RAF rescue helicopter to save girl who was swept
away on a riptide

A British girl aged 16 was rescued by Prince William after being swept out to sea
trying to save her sister.

Rescuers said her sister, aged 13, had been swept away on a riptide while body-boarding
and the girl had swam out to help her.

But she got into difficulties as she became exhausted and was close to drowning when
she was winched to safety by an RAF rescue helicopter captained by Prince William.

The RAF said it was one of its 'fastest and shortest' operations, taking 38 seconds to
arrive at the scene at Silver Bay, Anglesey, north Wales.

Flight Lieutenant Wales, 30, as Prince William is known in the RAF, piloted the Sea King
while Master Aircrew Harry Harrison pulled the older sister, believed to be from Hereford-
shire, out of the water.

The incident happened close to the prince’s RAF Valley airbase.



Vital time was saved because coastguards had called in the RAF immediately after being
alerted to the emergency.

The younger girl had been saved by a surfer who took her ashore.

But the 16-year-old was battered by waves among rocks and vanished briefly under the
surface when the Sea King arrived overhead.

Two surfers had been waving and pointing to the rocks to draw the attention of the
chopper’s crew to the exhausted youngster.

Onlookers had been unable to reach her as she struggled in the water.



When she was winched aboard she was said to be cold, distressed, shocked and having
swallowed water.

The crew then collected her younger sister from the beach and flew down the beach to
collect what is believed to be their mother.

All three were then flown to Gwynedd Hospital at Bangor so the two girls could have a
check up.

Prince William graduated as a fully operational RAF search and rescue pilot in September
2010, having started his training in January the previous year at RAF Valley.

He only qualified to take command of a Sea King a few months ago.

[ApporpSothe]

His wife is beautiful.