This year, I shall have been involved in lifesaving for 48 years. Friends often ask me why. Well, today gives a pretty good insight into my reasons.

Between 11am and 4pm, a group of four lifesaving instructors, taught rope-throwing rescues to 200+ people and CPR to 50+. We were at an area of Walton-on-Thames, beside the River, as part of a multi-agency water safety event. Organised by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, and attended by ourselves, the Surrey Search and Rescue charity, the Police, and the Maritime Volunteer Service, it provided the opportunity to engage with a broad cross-section of the community in an area in which there have been three times the number of drownings this year compared to previous ones.

The members of the public ranged from very young children to ‘mature’ grandparents, some were on their own ‘just walking past’; there were young couples and couples who were young at heart; cyclists, joggers, and even some wedding guests!

A few vignettes…

  • The five-year-old Asian boy, who was so excited at learning to throw a line to someone who could be drowning, that half-an-hour later he returned with three of his best friends to show them.
  • The lady in the wheelchair who surprised herself.
  • The two sisters and their younger brother whose instructions to the casualty could probably be heard on the other side of the River.
  • The guy with mental health issues who had seen a mate ‘go in’ and didn’t know what to do.
  • The six-year-old autistic boy who threw the rope dead straight to its full 15 metres length, landing it straight across the outstretched arms of the casualty… not once but three times – jumping up and down with excitement each time!
  • The group of four Russian-speaking nannies, who thought it was such a great opportunity that one of them rang her employers and asked if she could collect the kids and bring them down to the River to have a go even though it was her day off.
  • The three grannies who, independently, persuaded their charges that they should learn CPR together (“It’s a really useful skill to have.”)
  • The rowing coach who, reluctant at first, had a go then realised that this was actually something that his rowers and club members should all learn…

I could go on. Why do I do this? Of course, there’s the grand moral purpose to save lives, prevent drowning, encourage water safety. However, those could all be achieved in other ways and I don’t think they alone would sustain someone’s motivation for 48 years. The answer is a bit deeper. I am not a religious person, but to see human beings of every background, all kinds of circumstances, and with so many personal stories, ‘having a go’ – stepping outside their personal comfort zone – wanting to know what they could do if ever they had to. There are so many horrifying things happening all around us, that it’s seeing people like this that restores your faith in humanity. It’s that kind of spiritual buzz that keeps me involved in initiatives like this. And, do you know what? I have a pretty strong feeling that I am not the only one!?