Girl, 4, floats half-a-mile out to sea after falling asleep on boogie board

Girl, 4, floats half-a-mile out to sea after falling asleep on boogie board

Mangalore Today News Network

Aug 12, 2014: When Rebecca Chambers decided to go for a quick swim in the sea, she left her young daughter splashing around in the shallow water with her siblings and cousins.

But by the time she returned a few minutes later, four-year-old Jemima was a speck on the horizon after drifting half a mile out on a boogie board.

Thankfully a jet skier appeared, inviting Mrs Chambers to jump on the back – and they roared off to rescue the child before she vanished for ever.



Saved: Jemima Chambers, four, had no idea she drifted half-a-mile out when she fell asleep on her body board


When her terrified mother reached her, Jemima was happily relaxing on her board, oblivious to the danger and just how far she had drifted.

Paediatrician Mrs Chambers yesterday gave a heartfelt public thank you to the man on the jet ski – whose identity remains unknown – for helping to save Jemima’s life.

The drama unfolded as Mrs Chambers, 35, and her four children spent three nights staying with her sister Rachel Le Marquand and her two children at her home in Jersey last week.

The families had spent most of Wednesday afternoon playing in the sea at Rozel Bay when the women decided to swim around the harbour.

But when they returned to where Jemima had been playing with cousins Emily, ten, Jamie, six, and siblings Mollie, eight, Caspar, six, and Bruno, two, they realised she was missing.

Mrs Chambers, from Ashleworth, Gloucestershire, said: ‘I was only gone a short while and as I came back I realised Jemima wasn’t with the others on the shore line.


Relief: Her mother Rebecca (pictured) panicked as she looked back at the shore to see Jemima was missing

Desperate search: The family raised the alarm on Rozel Bay, Jersey. A jet skier powered out to sea to find her

‘I asked the children where she was and they all pointed at this speck on the horizon. It honestly just looked like a buoy which was floating out at sea. She had gone well beyond the sea wall and out really far.

‘It was amazing. This man just appeared by my side as I was starting to panic and before I knew what had happened I was on the back of his jet ski, off towards her.

‘My heart rate is still coming down from it all. I still can’t believe how lucky we were.’ She said Jemima had not realised how much danger she was in.

‘She thought she hadn’t gone that far, when we got there I saw her eyes widen when she realised just how far the shore line was.

‘It could have been a lot worse had she realised how far out she was, she could have panicked, lost her board and who knows what might have happened.

‘She was never in any difficulty, I think she was just in a very relaxed state, she had her board, a life jacket and a wetsuit on.


Playing around: Jemima (pictured on a previous holiday) had been playing in the sea with her five cousins

Water baby: The four-year-old, from Gloucester, loves body boarding in Jersey, where her family lives

‘I think the combination of high tides and strong sea winds swept her out that far. It apparently happened in a matter of minutes, one minute she was there, the next she wasn’t.’

Mrs Chambers said she now regrets leaving the children alone, albeit for just a few minutes.

‘I think I was lulled into a false sense of security because they were just paddling in the really shallow water,’ she said. ‘In hindsight, because of that I made the poor decision to go for a swim myself and my attention was not as focused as it should have been.

‘I don’t think Jemima’s realised the full impact of what could have happened, she was more excited about the jet ski ride. That was the highlight of her holiday. We are so thankful to that man, it could have been so much worse if it hadn’t been for him.

‘I realised when I got back to the shore and made sure she was OK ... I never thanked him properly. I’d love to be able to do that.’

Mrs Le Marquand, 43, who lives on Jersey, said: ‘We spotted this dot off the headland – we couldn’t even make out it was a body but it was her.

‘She’d floated right around the corner, far too far out to swim.

‘Luckily, there was a man on a jet ski nearby. He didn’t shout at us for being bad parents – he jumped on his jet ski with my sister and zoomed off.

‘I don’t think the kids really realised quite how serious the situation was. They were in fits of giggles and thought it was marvellous that their mummy was on a jet ski.’

No one is sure how far Jemima would have been swept out had she not been rescued so quickly, but her shaken mother said ‘the tide and the current were definitely against her’.

She added that although there had been a lifeguard on duty, ‘he was a little way from where we were’.

Mrs Chambers is a qualified paediatrician who now looks after her children full-time. Her husband, Mungo, a cosmetic surgeon, was at work while his family were at the seaside.