Emily honoured for saving lives of two young swimmers
As one of his final acts as the High Sheriff of the East Riding of Yorkshire, Driffield’s Richard Shepherdson held an awards afternoon at Cerutti 2 in Beverley.
Civic dignitaries and award winners from across the East Riding were invited as guests of Richard to mark the end of his tenure in the prestigious role before handing over the reins shortly.
At the ceremony, the High Sheriff handed out more than 25 awards to people who have made a difference in the East Riding over the last 12 months.
One of those unable to attend last week’s event was Emily Pallant, from Driffield.
Instead, Emily received her High Sheriff’s a few weeks previously, having since travelled to Italy as part of her university course.
Former Driffield School & Sixth Form student Emily, 20, was recognised for saving the lives of two 10-year-old boys whilst working as an RNLI lifeguard in Hornsea last August.
It was when they started to shout to me for help that I knew they were in real danger of drowning.
Emily pallant
As an RNLI lifeguard since 2019, Emily had guarded beaches along the East Yorkshire coast from Bridlington to Withernsea and was towards the end of her shift on the day of the rescue.
It was at this point that Emily and her colleague, Brenton Mayman, noticed three boys struggling in the water.
Having noticed that the trio were not confident swimmers, Emily reacted quickly to reach the casualties, bring them back to the safety of the shore and advise further medical treatment.
She told the Wolds Weekly that having undergone extensive training, the rescue act came naturally to her.
“I remember the day being fairly quiet and not many people had been swimming in the sea,” said Emily.
It wasn’t a very sunny day, though I remember it being rather cold though towards the end of the day, when the rescue took place.
“A few people had decided to enter the water and play or swim amongst the waves that had appeared. Therefore, Brent and I took turns patrolling the beach.
“I had already noticed the boys were not the strongest swimmers and decided to stay nearby and watch them very closely.
“It was when they started to shout to me for help that I knew they were in real danger of drowning.
“Luckily, I was stood directly in line with them on the shoreline, so I was able to react quickly and enter the water.
“I took off my lifeguard coat as fast as I could and readied my rescue tube. I notified Brent that I was entering the water and swam out to the boys.
“One of the three boys was able to swim back without assistance, however, I had to help swim the other two back to shore, together, using the rescue tube.
“The training I have received definitely kicked in. I instantly knew what I had to do and that I had to do it fast.
“We train weekly as a team, outside of shift hours, generally before or after a shift and we use scenarios exactly like this incident to practice.
“So, I had been trained to carry out a rescue exactly like this multiple times before.
“Once the boys were brought back to shore, Brent and I carried out all necessary first aid checks and made sure the boys were okay.
“One of the boys felt very cold and was in shock over what had just happened, so we kept him wrapped in a dry blanket and observed him for a while.
“Once we were happy that they both felt okay, we told their guardian that they needed to be taken to A&E to be checked for secondary drowning.
“This is something that can occur days after involuntarily swallowing water in the ways the boys had done.”
Emily received her award from the High Sheriff on Sunday 27th February, just days before she flew to Italy.
She said she was honoured to receive the accolade and encouraged others to take on the role of an RNLI lifeguard, describing it as ‘the best job’ she has ever had.
“I felt honoured that I was being recognised by the High Sheriff for what I did and did not expect to receive an award at all,” said Emily.
“It feels really special to get chosen for an award like this one.
“Unfortunately, I am no longer working as a lifeguard, though it is definitely the best job I have ever had and I would recommend people to try and join the RNLI team if they get the chance.
“Currently, I am in Italy and studying abroad at a university in Italy, learning languages.
“I won’t be returning to the UK until July, so won’t be available to complete the necessary training to reapply to work as a lifeguard this year.”
