Dramatic sea rescue reconstructed for film

RNLI crew member and mechanic Anthony Chambers plucked best friends Reece Sufferin, 14, and 13-year-old Matthew Rathfield-Forsythe from a dangerous rising tide after they got into trouble near Castlerock.

The trio met up in Portrush at the weekend to re-enact the massive land, sea and air rescue operation last August.

An RNLI film crew travelled over from England to record footage, which will be shown at a glamorous awards ceremony in London later this year.

Mr Chambers (50) will be presented with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's bronze medal for gallantry at the May 27 event.

He revealed that he was able to return a pair of trainers worn by Reece - almost six months after the rescue.

Although he met the boys in the immediate aftermath of the north coast drama, the Portrush lifeboatman said it was nice to renew acquaintances.

"We had a good laugh because I had a pair of Reece's shoes," he said

"He was quite shocked because they were sucked off him on the day. I had left them on a ledge inside the cave and they were recovered by colleagues several days later."

Although the parts of Reece and Matthew were played by lifeboat crew during the filming, the Limavady boys and their families were interviewed for the video.

Mr Chambers, who joked he'd been in and out of the water like a "penguin" for two days, admitted it was a "wee bit surreal" being back at the scene.

"I've been up at the scene but never that close. The conditions were much the same as it was a nice sunny day and there was a big swell, it was just a bit colder.

"I just thought the last time I was here I was swallowing a lot of water."

While shooting scenes outside the cave, the film crew decided the conditions were too severe to go inside.

"There was a big swell and it was decided the risk wouldn't benefit the outcome," Anthony explained.

"We recorded some footage outside the cave but also recorded at another cave just across the harbour at Portrush and at Dunluce Castle."

The teenagers were trapped by a rising tide in the cliff at Castlerock for around five hours before they were rescued.

Mr Chambers braved the surging sea to swim twice into the cave to bring each of the boys to safety.

Lifeboat operations manager in Portrush Robin Cardwell once again paid tribute to the actions of his colleague.

"It was a great achievement and a job well done. Obviously if he hadn't of done what he did we could have been looking at a whole different scenario. The water was up at the two kids' heads at that time and the tide still had about an hour to go."

Mr Chambers shrugged off any talk of heroism, saying it was just part of his job.

He said he was now "looking forward" to the awards ceremony in London.