Their parents must be so, so very proud. From the country which gave us the concept of quiet dignity (as well as the concept of embarrassment) comes news of a party of teenage revelers too giddy to notice details such as the incoming tide, the fact that the party was located on a cliff ledge in Devon, and the fact that they had lost the coherent use of their legs and arms. When they called for rescue they also discovered they’d lost the coherent use of their voices, and thus were unable to tell the rescuers where they were.
Only one of them had an epileptic seizure, and he was the only one together enough to be airlifted out. As for the rest of them, they were in worse shape and the rescue crew took one look, presumably took a second and third, and perhaps a whiff of the fumes arising from the festive gathering, and decided to leave the kids on the ledge to sober up overnight.
A decision was made that it was safer to leave them in the location they were in, until daylight, it added.
Zoe Boyne, the coastguard watch manager, said: “It was too dangerous to rescue the seven others because they were rather intoxicated and it would have been too hazardous to take them down to the lifeboat.
“This incident has tied up many resources throughout the night. It has also highlighted the dangers of young people putting themselves at risk in locations where they lose control of their actions due to the effects of intoxicating substances.”
She said coastguard teams, a lifeboat, the military helicopter and a police helicopter, police and ambulance personnel were all involved in the rescue operation which began at 12.45am.
When you are too drunk to be fireman-carried down to a lifeboat by trained professionals, you, my friend, are too drunk. The names of the youngsters involved has not been released by police, but presumably will be available freely on Facebook’s Most Wanted as soon as they get over the hangovers.
