At 16:28 Falmouth Coastguard requested that the Falmouth Inshore Lifeboat be launched following a report of two persons in the water at Ruan Creek, on the River Fal.

The Inshore Lifeboat launched from her slipway at 16:34 and made best possible speed up the river, arriving on scene at 16:44. Once on seen it was found that the two people involved had already made it safely ashore, although their dinghy, which they had been using to assist a small pony, had been sunk.

Also on scene were members of the fire brigade who had been called to assist in the recovery of the pony. The inshore lifeboat then assisted in ferrying members of the fire brigade across the river, before helping to tow the pony back to the other side by strapping it alongside the inshore lifeboat.

Once this task had been completed at 17:50 the inshore lifeboat was released to return to station as the tide by that stage was starting to ebb and the depth of water that far up the river was limited.

The Inshore Lifeboat was back on its slipway by 18:15 where it was refuelled, and was ready for service by 18:40.

The pony was treated on scene by a vet before being taken to a nearby farm. Although the couple in the dinghy had taken a considerable risk when they had assisted the pony, their actions and those of the lifeboat crew and fire brigade certainly helped to increase the chances of the ponys survival.

An Inshore Lifeboat Service

 

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