As the RNLI Lifeboat week draws to a close, Echo reporter CATHERINE BOLADO talks to people about the volunteer lifesavers of the Jurassic Coast and hears why everyone should donate to the RNLI to keep the charity afloat.

The RNLI has been saving lives in Weymouth for 140 years and relies on donations from the public to keep running. The lifeboat crews are volunteers and give up their time to help other in any situation or weather condition.

Last year Weymouth’s lifeboats launched 79 times and rescued 119 people, making it the fifth busiest station in the South West.

* Suzanne Garriquez, 46, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, paid tribute to the RNLI beach lifeguards, who saved her disabled son Daryl from drowning.

The family had been enjoying a day on Weymouth beach and 10 year-old Daryl, who has Down’s Syndrome, had been playing with friends in an inflatable rubber ring, when the tide started to go out.

The other boys jumped out of the ring onto the safety of the beach but Daryl couldn’t get out in time and was carried out to sea.

Mrs Garriquez said: “We ran towards the lifeguards and they said ‘we have seen him, we’re going to get him’.

“They gave me a pair of binoculars so I could see him and said that they would be with him in less than a minute.

“He had jumped into the water to try and get back to the shore.

“When he jumped in it was up to his chest and by the time they got to him a minute later it was up to his lips. We were really shocked watching it.

“We were told later that he had got caught in the rip tide, which goes out really fast.”

RNLI Beach lifeguards Jake Clifford and Ieuan Walker raced to save Daryl aboard their rescue boat.

As Jake manoeuvred the rescue, Ieuan grabbed Daryl and pulled him to safety.

Mrs Garriguez said: “The lifeguards were fantastic with him.

“I just think they do really good work and do need to be cre-dited for it.

“People need to realise the work they do, because without them there would be a lot of fatal accidents.”

Mrs Garriquez said that Daryl had not been affected badly by the incident but he was careful around water.

She is calling for holiday makers to be more careful when using inflatables and to be aware of the rip tide.

* Andrew Sherwood, 57, from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, was rescued last month by the Wyke Regis coastguard rescue team and the coastguard helicopter after he went out walking near Ringstead Bay with his dog Woody.

Mr Sherwood said: “They are just heroes, they’re fantastic guys. The whole team, they work together, professionals and volunteers.”

He added: “It’s quite something, you see these rescues and the first thing you think is how do people get into those kind of situations but when it’s you, you see it from another perspective.

“You think you’ve taken precautions when you go out but it can just happen to you.”

Mr Sherwood took Woody for a walk along Ringstead Bay and, after seeing that the car park was almost above them, he took what seemed to be a short cut back but the path led in the wrong direction.

Mr Sherwood found himself negotiating rocks, steep climbs and cliffs in a route that seemed to be taking him further from the main path.

He said that he started ‘having breathing problems and began to gasp for air’ before collapsing as he reached a dead end surrounded by thick thorn bushes. He had just enough strength to dial 999.

The Wyke Regis coastguard team and helicopter eventually managed to find Mr Sherwood after 90 minutes as he was in dense cover. He was airlifted to Dorset County Hospital where he stayed overnight.

The coastguard rescue team were the first visitors Mr Sherwood had in hospital. They brought him his day bag and told him that they had housed Woody overnight in the Weymouth Police Dog Pound.

He said: “I was really impressed by that level of dedication.

“They really do have a calling for it.”