Mum tells of swim to try to save children in inflatable dinghy

Laura Gallagher has warned of the dangers of taking inflatables to the beach after she desperately tried to keep up with the light dinghy and reassure the youngsters, who were crying after it blew away from her grasp in shallow water at Thorntonloch, near Dunbar.

The 31-year-old told the Courier how quickly the terrifying experience happened last month.

She said: “One moment they were right by my side and the next they were being blown away.

“It all happened in an instant.”

Pharmacy manager Laura had been looking forward to an afternoon at the beach when she arrived at Thorntonloch at 3pm on July 17, with her husband Kern, 34, their sons Nathan, seven, and four-year-old Jamie, and their friends Sarah and Robert Keenan and their son Findlay, also seven.

Laura said: “It is a beach we go to all the time.

“I’d even been there earlier that week with the kids and the dinghy.

“It was rougher that day but with light winds and I’d held onto them the whole time.

“On that Saturday we set up a base and the husbands got the picnic out while the children went down to the sea with the mums.

“It was windy but the sea was calmer than it had been.

“That’s why I made the mistake of not holding on.

“All three children were in the boat at first.

“They were playing a metre away from Sarah and me.

Laura Gallagher has warned of the dangers of taking inflatables to the beach after a terrifying experience involving her sons Nathan and Jamie. Picture: Nick Mailer

“Then Nathan got out and maybe it was the change in weight that lifted it up – but the boat shot off.

“I went in after them but I quickly realised I’d have to swim.

“I had my costume on so I whipped my dress off and went in after them.

“I was sure I was going to reach them.

“They were only about two metres away but I couldn’t close the gap.

“I was swimming breaststroke and changed to front crawl to try and speed up.

“Still they kept moving away from me.

“I looked round and realised how far we were from shore.

“Sarah and my husband had started swimming too but stopped as they weren’t strong swimmers.

“Then I saw another man in a wetsuit swimming in from another angle.

“I thought he might reach them but they were too far out for him too.

“I called back to shore, ‘Have you called the lifeboat?’ I think a few people on the beach had already called for help.

The inflatable dinghy, pictured with Nathan Gallagher and friend Findlay Keenan, has now been binned

“I had to carry on swimming. The boys were crying now. Findlay was saying, ‘Am I going to die?’

“I shouted to them, ‘I am right here, I am right here. Hold on to each other. Stay in the boat. You are not going to die.’

“They had only been two metres away from me but now they were 50 metres away.”

Luckily a guard vessel for a ‘walking’ barge doing geotechnical surveys for the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm was in the area.

The crew of the Celtic Guardian saw what was happening and came to their aid.

Laura, who lives in Dunbar, said: “I saw the boat was coming towards them and shouted to the boys it was coming to get them.

“The boat gave them a wide berth.

“There were men on each side and they managed to get the dingy and got them both out and the boat.

“I had a huge sigh of relief.

“They came for me but it was a struggle to get me on board.

“My legs were jelly and I was coughing. I don’t think I’d swallowed water but it had been splashing into my mouth.”

Laura has now relived her ordeal in the hope that her experience will make others think twice about bringing similar inflatables to the beach.

She said: “Thankfully the boys are okay.

“They have been asking lots of questions since, though, like what would have happened if the boat had not come.

“My son has had a bad dream about it.

“We took them to meet the workmen at Eyemouth and they took the boys back on board and I think that really helped them get over their fright.”

The family had bought the inflatable dinghy during a holiday to Portugal.

However, since the frightening experience, it has been binned.

Laura added: “I would just like to say thank you to the crew of the vessel that rescued us, to the RNLI lifeboat crew, who helped us get ashore and were very reassuring, and we are grateful to the caravan owner and others on the beach who called the coastguard.”

Gary Fairbairn, Dunbar Lifeboat coxswain, stressed inflatables were not suited for beaches.

He said: “We want people to have fun at the beach but Laura’s story shows just how quickly things can get very dangerous.

“Thankfully the guard vessel was close by to help.

“Inflatable dinghies look fun but they are not suitable for our beaches were strong off shore winds can pick up at any moment.

“We are grateful to Laura for sharing her story as warning to others.”