Thread by @doctor_oxford

The quiet heroism of the @RNLI - whose lifeboat crews & lifeguards have saved nearly 150k lives since its foundation in 1824 – deserves our total respect, not the hate of late.

Take this week in St Agnes, North Cornwall, one over-excited dog, & this 300 foot cliff... 😱 (1/n)

On Wed evening, the waves were high & the atmosphere wild.

Kids and adults alike were shrieking with delight in the surf.

Rupert the dog, a golden retriever, was pretty intoxicated himself as he chased a ball along the coastal footpath... (2/n)

Owners Katie & James watched in horror as Rupert chased his ball straight over the cliff edge.

“We shouted for him to stop but before we knew it, he went for it and tumbled head over tail down the cliff face," said Katie. (3/n)

😱😱😱

Local @RNLI area manager Steve Instance, here on the beach, told me there have been many casualties over this clifftop - none have survived the drop.

Rupert had almost certainly perished. (4/n)

The St Agnes @RNLI lifeboat was scrambled at 8.33pm and launched just 8 minutes later.

Volunteer lifeboat helm, Tom Forehead, said, “With a fall of that nature, it’s fair to say we were expecting the worst."

But... (5/n)

The hapless hound, who had just plummeted 300 feet into the sea, was alive!

"We were delighted to find Rupert frightened but OK. He was tucked in the back of the small cave on the beach, so two of our crew waded over to him and brought him back to the lifeboat." (6/n)

This story is shared with permission & @RNLI are keen to stress that dog owners should keep dogs on leads on cliff paths (& that, if your dog falls, don't attempt to reach it but call 999 & ask for the Coastguard). (7/n)

But the point for me is this.

Every day, on our coastlines and inland, *thousands* of volunteers are doing their bit to keep our waters safe for people in peril and even, occasionally, the odd kamikaze dog.

People like Jill here, in St Agnes (8/n)

Or like Steve, whose Cornish parents were both volunteer lifeguards, and who became one himself when aged only 16.

You don't do this for fame or riches or glory. You do it because you want to help people in need & in danger. (9/n)

The @RNLI, in short - this remarkable network of volunteers, fundraisers, unpaid lifeguards & lifeboat crews who risk their lives to save others - are the absolute best of us. The kindest, most decent, most admirable best of us.

So thank you, @RNLI 🙏🐶🌊

And... (10/n)

If anyone felt like supporting true bravery not keyboard warriors, proper kindness not Twitter cynicism, decency not racism, love not hate.... you can donate to the @RNLI here.

92% of their donations comes from ordinary members of the public 💙 (ends)

rnli.org/support-us/giv…

Last comment - the official @RNLI verdict on Rupert is that he is clearly not a normal dog, he's a cat dog.

Last, last comment.

During WW2, my dear granddad was a doctor on a Royal Naval destroyer defending the North Atlantic convoys. His ship once rescued the crew of a torpedoed German U-boat.

I still remember him telling me, as a child: "They were souls in the sea. So we helped."