Woman rescued from water off Gosport

Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (Gafirs) was paged by the coastguard at 6.30pm to reports of a woman in the water in Stokes Bay, Gosport.

The police and a coastguard mobile team from Hillhead were also on the scene when Gosport Lifeboat was launched.

Gafirs crews headed to the location and spoke to the woman, who initially declined assistance.

Gafirs coxswain Brian Pack said: ‘When we got to the woman she was quite a way from shore, off the paddling pool at Stokes Bay.

‘Initially she declined our help but my crew eventually persuaded her to get out of the cold water and on to the lifeboat.’

Gafirs then transferred the casualty on to the beach where the police and ambulance crews were waiting to assist.

Emma Neal, Gafirs medical coordinator, added: ‘We kept the casualty warm because she was suffering from moderate hypothermia and transferred her into the care of South Central Ambulance Service who took her to Queen Alexandra Hospital for further treatment.’

In total the rescue operation lasted nearly three hours.