Man trapped in quicksand had ‘chest, head and arm’ poking out

A man stuck in quicksand as the tide rushed in was pulled out in what rescuers describe as a ‘close call’.

Bay Search and Rescue said only the man’s head, chest, one arm and part of a leg were visible when they arrived to help.

The victim had become trapped at Silverdale in Morecombe Bay in Lancashire on Saturday morning, with a 999 call made at 11.30am.

The rescue team said the tide was ‘rapidly pushing into the bay’ and the man was suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion.

Posting on their Facebook page, they said: ‘Our crew inflated two Inflatable Rescue Air Pathways so we could safely reach him, and informed Holyhead MRCC of his exact location.

‘One pathway [was] behind him to prevent him sinking further and the other in front [and] we carefully worked to free him.

‘After just a few short minutes, he was safely out and on the pathway and able to crawl up onto dry land.’

The team said they immediately transferred the man into their sherp (a special off-road amphibious vehicle) as he was ‘extremely cold and showing signs of hypothermia’.

Here he was medically assessed, wrapped in foil blankets, and then moved to a cafe.

‘As we left the scene, the tide had already begun to fill the gulley – a surreal reminder of just how close this call was,’ Bay and Search Rescue wrote.

Paramedics carried out a further assessments of the man at the cafe.

The rescue team said the man had laid on his back, as is recommended if you find yourself in quicksand, preventing him from sinking further.

Last year the Metro put together a map of the areas across the UK where quicksand is commonly found, which you can see here.

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