Army veteran Craig Wiltshire has described the treacherous conditions he and a rescue team faced while saving a young boy from dangerous riptide conditions at Seaton Carew beach on Sunday, July 12. The 50-year-old father of two was among a group of strangers who risked their lives after spotting a child approximately 100 metres offshore.
Heroes lost in the rescue attempt
Two men, Wayne Taylor and Ian Pascoe, tragically lost their lives during the incident. They had initially entered the North Sea to assist Wayne's two children, who were struggling in the water. Despite being retrieved by the RNLI and receiving emergency medical attention, both were pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
Craig Wiltshire, from Willington, Crook, was walking his dogs with his wife Cheryl when they noticed a disturbance on the beach. The older boy had already been rescued by a woman, but the younger child was still out at sea. The boy's mother had dialled 999 and was described as 'frantic' on the shore.
Battling 12ft waves and riptide
Craig entered the water alongside Davey Short, 48, from Bishop Auckland. Craig described waves reaching 12 feet high and a powerful riptide that pulled them further out to sea. 'If you imagine, we were trying to jump the waves but it was going over our heads,' he told Teesside Live. 'And it's kind of like, imagine your feet are under the water and there's a man pulling your legs, being pulled out and out and out.'
He added: 'You have to try and anchor your heels into the sands but with the waves coming it was impossible to do that. I think it was a riptide - the way it happened. I never knew much about them but obviously I've been studying them since.'
At one stage, Craig feared he might not survive. 'I was thinking in my brain - how can two men who are quite obviously fit people, go out and get killed that quickly? And how on earth did the kids survive?'
Team of strangers unite
Craig and Davey initially attempted to reach the boy but were forced back by the rough conditions. 'I pulled him out the first time because it was just too rough,' Craig said. They waited but decided to try again. 'Davey said, 'I can't watch that kid drown'. So we said we really need to go in together.'
They managed to get about 20 metres out when the boy saw them and began swimming towards them. 'We were screaming 'swim, swim, swim',' Craig recalled. 'He was swimming for his life that kid was, I've never seen anything like it. He swam his heart out, the kid, honestly I've never seen anything like it.'
As Craig began to struggle, another man named Andy entered the water. Andy had approached Cheryl to ask what was happening, and she told him about the rescue attempt. 'That man ran in and he was like a bolt of the blue,' said Craig. 'He got past us and just as the kid was coming to us he managed to get hold of him. But he grabbed hold of me as well because he could see I was beginning to struggle a bit. Andy went in there without thinking anything for himself. I had hold of Andy's massive shoulder and then managed to walk out.'
Emergency response and aftermath
Cleveland Police, RNLI, North East Ambulance Service, and Great North Air Ambulance attended the scene. 'The police came first and we were pointing out where the bodies were,' said Craig. 'The boat came and picked up the bodies and then about ten minutes later the helicopter came.'
Craig, an Army veteran who served in the Royal Artillery, now runs his own training business for electricians. He revealed that the family had intended to go to Seaham that day but accidentally set the Sat Nav to Seaton Carew. 'Ironically we were meant to go to Seaham but my wife had a bit of brain fog and she accidentally put Seaton Carew in the Sat Nav,' he said.
Following the tragedy, Craig received a message from the boy's mother. 'She said thank you for rescuing my boy. I read that and burst in tears.' He added: 'As tragic as it was it was a beautiful thing that the children got out. Where my head is at is there was a team of people who have never met before, came together and managed to do that and I think that's incredible. It was a team of strangers who came together. It was phenomenal really.'
Community response and petition
A fundraising appeal has raised over £8,700 to assist Mr Taylor's family, covering funeral expenses and supporting the children. A petition demanding additional lifeguards at Seaton Carew beach has attracted more than 3,000 signatures. The campaign was initiated by the childhood best friend of Jordan Moon, who was swept out to sea by a freak wave 23 years ago at the age of eight.
