Saving Lives At Sea

The dangers of the water are put into perspective when a father gets himself into serious difficulties after swimming out to try and rescue his young son, while a YouTube prankster deliberately flings himself from Tower Bridge for 'a dare'.

A father and daughter tread water for almost an hour after being swept out by a rip; in Kinsale, Ireland, three fishermen swim for their lives as their trawler is smashed onto rocks; in London, an unlucky tourist is minutes from hypothermia.

The volunteers of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution staff more than 230 stations covering even the most far-flung areas of Britain's coastline but the busiest station by far is actually miles from the sea, on the River Thames in Central London.

On the south coast of Devon, the crew of Salcombe lifeboat station respond to a mayday call for a fisherman pulled to the bottom of the sea ensnared in his own fishing gear and a devastating fire on a boat fifteen miles out in the Channel.

On the east coast of Ireland, the crew of Courtown's inshore lifeboat must keep a teenage girl with suspected spinal injuries immobile and afloat for 40 minutes, knowing any movement could leave her paralysed for life.

The crew at Tower Station in central London, the busiest of the RNLI's 238 stations, are called to rescue a man reported in the water eight miles downstream. On arrival, they discover a river bus already on the scene.