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Parents Send RNLI £7 Bill After They Rescue Their Child


Alan de Enfield

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SHAMELESS parents whose child was saved in a £7,000 helicopter sea rescue brazenly sent the RNLI a bill for £7 for her popped lilo.

The little girl had drifted out to sea on the inflatable off the coast of Cornwall - with a crew member bravely jumping into the water to save her.

But the rescuers were later stunned to be presented with a bill for £7 - the cost of the lilo - from the little girl's parents.

Mike Carter, president of a RNLI branch, said the rescuer had slit the inflatable during the rescue to stop the pair drifting further away off Porthleven, Cornwall.

 

He said: "A family visiting Porthleven purchased a lilo from a local shop and went to the beach.

"There was an off-shore wind and the parents immediately experienced their child waving goodbye as the lilo went further and further out.

"The coastguard scrambled the SAR helicopter which was soon on scene.

"The diver jumped from the the helicopter and saved the child. He instantly put a knife through the lilo to save any further drifting and they were both winched to safety."

 

Mike said that after receiving the invoice, the rescuer replied saying they would happily pay - if the family paid for the cost of launching the helicopter.

He added: "Two weeks later the commanding officer of 771 received a request to pay an invoice for £7 the cost of the lilo.

"The CO wrote replying, 'I will be happy to pay your invoice on receipt of payment for the helicopter rescue £7,000.' No response was received."

Mike said that inflatables in the sea pose a constant threat, and only last week the Maritime and Coastguard Agency posted a similar warning.

 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9713086/lilo-bill-rnli-rescue-cornwall/

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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This one was around in the early 80's when I was at Culdrose.  Back then it was the Captain of HMS Seahawk that got the bill from the parents and replied with a bill for the helicopter time (a Wessex in those days).

 

I don't think 771 Naval Air Squadron even have the SAR task any longer, since SAR went commercial.

 

N

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53 minutes ago, BEngo said:

This one was around in the early 80's when I was at Culdrose.  Back then it was the Captain of HMS Seahawk that got the bill from the parents and replied with a bill for the helicopter time (a Wessex in those days).

 

I don't think 771 Naval Air Squadron even have the SAR task any longer, since SAR went commercial.

 

N

But.....but......but..... it's in the Sun! Must be true.

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Reminds me of when the Lunar Module was used as the lifeboat to save the astronauts on Apollo 13. Grumman (the manufacturers) sent North American (the manufacturer of the failed service module) a rather large (and good humoured) bill for services rendered, on a per mile basis....

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Quote

We're aware that there is a story going around on social media today claiming that a family made a claim against a Coastguard helicopter base for the loss of an inflatable following an incident.
We'd like to point out we've never had a helicopter known as Coastguard 771 & we have no record of anyone contacting any of our bases to claim any money for an inflatable lost at sea. 
We do however urge people not to use inflatable toys at the coast as they are not designed to be used in the sea and can actually be very dangerous to use them there. 
We will always answer the 999 call when we are needed and we will always respond in a maritime emergency, without counting the cost. #AlwaysOnCall <<

From the Maritime and Coastguard Agency via Facebook

 

It's a work of pure fiction, it would seem.

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On 13/08/2019 at 17:09, BEngo said:

This one was around in the early 80's when I was at Culdrose.  Back then it was the Captain of HMS Seahawk that got the bill from the parents and replied with a bill for the helicopter time (a Wessex in those days).

 

I don't think 771 Naval Air Squadron even have the SAR task any longer, since SAR went commercial.

 

N

Exactly. Very old and probably entirely apocryphal. All SAR in the UK has been civvy for a number of years. There haven’t been SAR divers for many, many years. Pure bullshit. So sorry to spoil the professionally outraged’s fun!

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“A spokesman said: "The story about parents sending the RNLI a bill for a £7 lilo is in fact an anecdote from an incident which happened back in the 1980s – it is not a recent incident.

Grieving family wants you to see this devastating crash footage - so that it never happens again  

"The anecdote was recounted in passing at an event in the south west at the weekend and has since been incorrectly reported as a recent occurrence.

 

"Additionally, rescue helicopters are provided by the Coastguard. The RNLI provides a lifeboat search and rescue service from 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland and lifeguards on over 240 beaches, but does not cover helicopter provision.”

 

So Donald Trump was right, the world is run by Fake News.

 

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1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

The perils of posting a story that assumes the Sun might be a reliable news source...

What’s more depressing is that I saw it in the Indy, whose fact checking is usually better than that.

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