A local teenager who helped save the lives of two yachtsmen has been presented with a prestigious lifesaving award. Edinburgh Academy pupil Robyn Dougall, 15, is a volunteer rescue boat driver on the Forth and she was presented with her award at a gala dinner on Saturday (1 February).
As part of her duties with the Royal Forth Yacht Club at Granton, Robyn helped rescue a man who had been swept into the sea last summer and also assisted in rescuing another sailor who had fallen overboard in the sea near Leith.
During other rescue missions also helped save five yachts which were in danger in the Forth waters so Robyn’s Young Volunteer of the Year award from the Royal Yachting Association Scotland is richly deserved!
The first rescue she was involved with came after she spotted a man who had fallen overboard during a yachting festival on the Forth last summer.
She said: “We were helping out with the yacht races in force seven winds and we got a radio call to say a guy had got swept overboard. I found the boat, pointed it out and we got to him. He probably only had few minutes because he wasn’t wearing a life jacket.”
Robyn’s father Ken, who started teaching Robyn when she was aged eight, said he was “very proud” of his daughter’s achievements.
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