A 70's orange Space Hopper toy helped save two schoolgirls at the weekend
On Saturday Charlotte Wright, 15, and her
friend Hannah Woolacott 16, were minutes from drowning after they were washed
off the pier in Dawlish, Devon.
After
hearing the girls screams, Matthew Gribble, Andrew Riches and Leigh
Larratt, all 24, called the coastguard and came to their rescue. After a lifebuoy didn’t reach the girls
quick-thinking Matthew threw out a neighbour’s Space Hopper.
The girls who were 20 metres out from the
seawall clutched hold the toy and reaching the tethered lifebuoy held on until Exmouth
inshore lifeboat arrived. The boys urged the girls to keep their heads above
the waves.
Two lifeboat crews and a rescue helicopter
were scrambled. Both girls were treated in an Exeter hospital
and later released.
