Portrush RNLI Lifeboats launched to reports of a person on rocks

The All-weather Lifeboat (ALB)was already out on exercise so was diverted to the scene and was able to arrive approximately 10 minutes after the pagers were activated.

Once on scene, the crew realised that the person was unresponsive, and at this point, the Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) was requested to launch to assist.

The ILB was launched at 7.19 pm and arrived on scene within 15 minutes. Two ILB crew went ashore and, on assessing the situation, requested that two ALB crew also be brought ashore to assist with the evacuation of the casualty.

The volunteer crew were then able to assist the casualty into the care of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, the Coastguard and the waiting Air Ambulance, at the top of the cliff.

Perry Walton, Deputy Coxswain at Portrush said: “Because the crew were already out on an exercise, we were able to respond to the page from the Coastguard very quickly.

Added to the fact that weather conditions were good, we had good visibility and a fairly calm sea, we could locate the casualty immediately and help with the evacuation of the casualty to the cliff top.

"We would always ask people to be careful when walking along the cliff edges as it’s very easy to lose footing. If you see someone in difficulty, please ring 999 and ask for the Coastguard."