A CARDIGAN man dived into the River Teifi estuary to rescue two people who had fallen out of an inflatable and were being swept out to sea by the outgoing tide.

The drama unfolded as 49-year-old Titus Sharp was walking on Poppit Sands with a friend on Thursday evening (June 27) at around 7.15pm.

A man and a woman – understood to be from the Cardigan area - had gone into the estuary on an inflatable from the Gwbert side of the river but soon hit trouble and overturned.

There was a strong ebb tide being pushed along by an easterly wind and the pair were struggling to hang on to their inflatable and were in real danger of being swept away.

“I had seen them in the river and knew they were in trouble before they fell off,” said Titus, who works as a mental health support worker for Kinora in town and at Clynfyw, in Boncath.

“I saw they had overturned and were floating around. They were just about managing to cling on but it was a fast-flowing tide and going out very quickly.

“I did not have my mobile phone on me but ran along the beach and managed to find someone who had a phone and he was able to call the Coastguard.

“I ran back as fast as I could, stripped off and dived into the river. I just had to make that call and I swam out to them about 30 metres and pulled them back in.

“The woman was really struggling, a bit panicky and very, very anxious and the man was struggling too - it was a close call but they managed to hang on to the inflatable and I swam them back in.

“The first question I asked them when I got them back to the beach was how many of them was there and so relieved when they said just the two of them.”

Titus is the son of the late Charlie Sharp, the former helmsman on the Cardigan Lifeboat who passed away last year.

Charlie himself was hailed a hero and given a top bravery award for the rescue of a man in the River Teifi back in 2003, when he dived in and saved a man from drowning at Prince Charles Quay.

“I was a beach lifeguard when I was younger and it is really thanks to my dad that I know the river so well and what to do,” added Titus.

“I just don’t think people realise how dangerous the conditions can be.”

Cardigan lifeboat crew had been preparing to launch after the alarm had been raised by the Coastguard.

“The lifeboat crew were paged at 19.25hrs, and Cardigan’s Atlantic class lifeboat was preparing to launch at 19.35hrs when the launch was cancelled by the Coastguard when it became apparent that the two persons had made it ashore with the assistance of the members of the public,” said an RNLI spokesman.

With the hot weather and holidays approaching, the RNLI is urging people to follow safety guidelines if they are going to use any inflatables at any time whilst near water.

Inflatables are designed for pools, not the sea where they can easily be swept out. If you do use them at the beach, then:

  • ensure children are closely supervised
  • keep near the shore
  • only use between the red and yellow beach flags
  • follow the lifeguard’s advice
  • do not take inflatables out in big waves
  • never use them when the orange windsock is flying, as this indicates offshore winds which will blow inflatables further out to sea
  • if you do get into difficulty, then stay with your inflatable as it will keep you above the water.