Portsmouth Lifeboat Station one of coastguard crews to help emergency services assist critically ill man in Fareham Creek on Christmas Day

The Solent Coastguard were alerted to the incident at around 5.27pm on Wednesday, December 25, with volunteers from Portsmouth and Hill Head Lifeboat stations tasked with assisting the emergency services. The crews helped bring a critically ill man ashore from a yacht in Fareham Creek.

Portsmouth Lifeboat Station posted on Facebook: “ At 5:27pm we were tasked by Solent Coastguard to assist a multi agency response to a critically ill male on a yacht in Fareham creek. Our crew assisted with his safe recovery to shore where he could get the help and assistance needed.

“On retuning back to the station, the volunteers prepared the boat for its next service before returning home to finish their Christmas meals.”

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Andy Burns, who was on duty as launch Authority said: “Christmas day was not as quiet as I thought it would be. Just as dinner was coming out of the oven, the pager went.

“Within 15 mins there were 11 volunteers at the lifeboat station and the boat had been launched to support at least 10 police and ambulance service personnel helping someone in need.

“Thanks to the crew for also missing your Christmas dinner and family times! You are all stars!”

While this was the first call out of the day for the Portsmouth crew, it proved to be a busier one for the Hill Head lifeboat rescue team.

A post on social media said: “ Tasked alongside Portsmouth Coastguard Rescue Team to support a multi agency response to evacuate a person from a vessel in Fareham. Coastguard rescue teams worked in conjunction with ambulance and HART crews to safely extricate the person for onward care. This was the second callout for our volunteer teams on Christmas Day.

The News has contacted the police for further information on the incident and we will let you know as soon as we have a further details.