Holiday-maker rescued following Groats harbour day

Holiday-maker Geoffrey Alvis (55) and his wife Tina were two weeks into a five-week break in Scotland from their home in Bristol.

The couple had been at Sunday’s event admiring the work of the coastguards and lifeboats but at around 7.30pm, when everyone had gone home, Mr Alvis went for a walk on the beach at Groats and slipped.

Mrs Alvis said: “On Saturday night we stayed up at Dunnet Head viewpoint and on Sunday we went to John O’Groats. We didn’t know the harbour day was on so it was a lovely surprise.

“I’ve always wanted to see Scotsmen in kilts and the dancers which I absolutely adored.

“We thought what a perfect day it had been then my husband decided to go for a little walk down by the harbour.”

Mrs Alvis said her husband was usually very careful on rocks and set off looking for little coloured shells which the couple had been collecting on their journey around Scotland.

“The first thing I knew about the accident was when a lovely lady and her children came up to me. Apparently he slipped and tried to move himself one way and his foot moved in the other direction so he knew it was bad.

“There was an Italian couple out on a walk and he managed to get their attention and they called for help. It’s such a shame but with all the panic I never got the chance to thank them. When I turned around they were gone.”

Ian Cormack, coxswain of Wick lifeboat, got the call for help an hour after the harbour day ended.

“It was decided the best way to get him off the beach was by boat but there was very bad terrain so the Wick and Duncansby coastguard took over and managed to move him,” he said.

“We were turned back at Noss Head because they just wanted us up as a precaution.”

Alison Smith, station officer with Wick coastguard who was involved in the rescue, said: “Duncansby coastguard led the rescue and were already there when we got there. Mr Alvis was unable to move himself and was in a great deal of pain. He needed to be stretchered off but it was extremely slippy.

“The tide was coming in so we had the lifeboat on stand-by in case he needed to be evacuated by water. The coastguard helicopter was also on stand-by and was 40 minutes away.”

Ms Smith said two paramedics and 11 members of the joint coastguard teams were involved in the rescue and it took them 35 minutes to get Mr Alvis off the foreshore. He broke two bones and dislocated his foot in the fall.

Now the couple are in Caithness General Hospital in Wick waiting for the swelling on his foot to go down before he can be moved to Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, where he will have an operation to get all the bones pinned back in place.

Mrs Alvis said: “Alison from the coastguard drove our motorhome down to Wick for us and is arranging to get it from here to Inverness.

“It’s so silly because earlier in the day we were watching the coastguard and lifeboat displays at the harbour and my husband went to try to give a donation but there was no collection box.

“After the accident we offered Alison a donation but she wouldn’t accept our holiday cash. They said they do need some sort of rucksack or bag so we’re going to send a cheque when we get home. If we were wealthier we would give them thousands.”

Mrs Alvis said the couple had always wanted to visit Scotland to see the outstanding beauty of the place, and had loved their time in the north.

“I need to thank Alison for all her help and Stewart from the team who helped to pick the van up. My husband also wants to thank the people who rescued him as they went beyond the call of duty. It’s such a shame to be leaving because everyone’s been absolutely outstanding and the help they’ve given us has just been amazing.”

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