Day trip ends up as multi-agency rescue for man stuck in mud

After a passing police officer spotted a man stuck in the mud near Wonderland in Cleethorpes on Monday, he called for assistance.

Cleethorpes RNLI arrived on the scene and found the man, Martyn Cushing, in mud up to his knees, with the tide fast approaching. They freed his legs from the mud using their hands then handed him over to Coastguard volunteers who helped him back ashore.

The man was on a day trip to Cleethorpes with his dog, Sandy, who had become bogged down in the mud earlier. He went into the mud to rescue him but, while the dog was able to self rescue, the man was trapped fast.

Seemingly, this was a special dog walk for the family as Sandy has a brain tumour and is due to be put to sleep next week, so this was his last walk on his favourite beach.

Once safely ashore, the man was assessed by the Coastguard team and needed no further assistance.

The rescue was a multi-agency operation involving the RNLI, Coastguard, local authority beach rescue team, and the Police.

“This area of the beach is particularly dangerous with patches of deep mud and a fast-incoming tide. Within half an hour of the rescue, water in that area was a metre deep,” says Cleethorpes RNLI Launch Authority, Steve Austin.

Humberside Police blocked the area in order for coastguards to carry out the rescue from land and from the river.

Cushing, a Doncaster-area warehouseman, told Grimsby Live: “We are very lucky.

“I was up to my knees when they got me out. Another five minutes and I would have been under the water. I am very grateful to the Coastguard.

“I saw Sandy end up on the mud. I could see he was sinking, so I went after him. As I got closer my legs got stuck. Both my legs went under.

“Luckily the Coastguards came quickly and they were able to dig me out.

“Sandy had got himself free. I hadn’t needed to go to him after all.”