David and Kiki Evans with their daughter Lilly, who was rescued by Tenby RNLI after being blown out to sea on her paddleboard at Pendine Sands.
The family were reunited with the lifeboat crew at the station to say thank you. David is running the Newport and London marathons in Arpil 2025 to raise funds for Tenby RNLI.
The family were reunited with the lifeboat crew at the station to say thank you. David is running the Newport and London marathons in Arpil 2025 to raise funds for Tenby RNLI.
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00:00Yeah, so we had finished work and it was a lovely summer's evening, so we always go down
00:06to Penzyne Beach with the paddle board. So, packed the car up, went down and yeah, just
00:15planned a lovely couple of hours down the beach. Yeah, so we got there, got down to
00:24Penzyne Beach, Lily got into her swimming costume, we went down to the shore. We'd forgotten
00:32her life jacket, so I said to her, please, just stay in front of me, don't go too far
00:37out. And my little one started messing around next to me and I literally turned my back
00:45for two minutes and all I'd seen was her just getting pulled out. I'd seen where my husband
00:58came running down, I think he could tell something was happening. Yeah, and he chucked everything
01:07onto the sand and started swimming after her and I knew straight away both of their lives
01:15were in danger, so I got on the phone to 999, asked for the coast guard straight away.
01:21So yeah, within 10 minutes of being on the beach, something was meant to be fun, turned
01:27into my worst nightmare. As soon as Dave, her dad, started swimming out, and it's not
01:37the best of swimmers, but he can swim. And he was, as far as I remember, he was going
01:43to try and get to her and as fast as he was swimming, she was just going further and further
01:49and I knew straight away, this is going to end bad if we don't get help straight away.
01:59I was never going to see her again. I literally thought she was gone. I thought she was going
02:08to drown. She is so small for her age and the paddle board's so light, I thought, and
02:15that wind, it just kept picking up and I just thought, give me a break, the wind just stopped.
02:24I just had images of it flipping with the waves and that she'd be gone.
02:31I rang 999, asked for the coast guard straight away. It is a bit of a blur. I'm sure they
02:40said something like, if anything changes, give me a ring back. I remember them hanging
02:46up and me being like, I'm on my own. I was pestering them, I was ringing them all the
02:53time asking, how long are you going to be? Just staying on the phone to 999 really and
03:00trying to keep my eye on Lily, but she was just going further and further out. As soon
03:08as I seen the lifeboat, it was a feeling of relief, but still feeling that worry, that
03:15sick feeling that, is she going to be on that paddle board? I still remember the man's voice
03:22on the phone, me asking him so many times, have you got her? Have you got her? Obviously,
03:29the communication back and forth took a while. Then him saying, Kiki, we've got her, she's
03:35safe. My legs gave way. I was like, thank you, I'm going to see my baby girl again.
03:42She's coming back to us. To tell you the truth, it was such a blur. I just wanted Lily in
03:51my arms. I just needed to give her that big huddle. They were amazing. They were so friendly
03:58when they came up, but like I said, because we were in shock, I feel I didn't thank them
04:04enough. I didn't speak to them enough. My main concern was, is Lily okay? Thank you
04:10so much. If it wasn't for them, she wouldn't be here today. That's the truth. She would
04:18have been gone. It's not something I've ever, it sounds terrible that I've never really
04:27thought about, but it's so important. Something like this could happen to anyone. We are just
04:35a normal family. It happened to us. If it wasn't for them, the money that they need,
04:44how many lives would be gone without them? Just be safe. Wear a life jacket, and if ever
04:56you're in danger, ever you just think, even if, just ring 999, ask for the Coast Guard
05:02straight away. They'll understand if you don't need them. Just get on the phone straight
05:09away. Everything. As much as she drives me insane, it's, I'm glad she's home to drive
05:18me insane. Yeah. Yeah.