A HEROIC off-duty lifeboat volunteer plucked a teenager from the water to save him from drowning.

Ollie Jarvis was on his way home from a daytrip on his boat with his mum back to Mersea when he spotted 14-year-old Evan Theobald clinging onto the side of another vessel having been swept out to sea by a strong current.

Realising he was in trouble, Mr Jarvis cut the engine on his boat and helped Evan onto the back before taking him back ashore.

The youngster initially seemed fine after making it back to the island, but a few minutes after Mr Jarvis left he collapsed and had to be rushed to hospital.

Fortunately, he was discharged later on Monday night with no lasting damage and was even back at Thomas Lord Audley School yesterday to cheer on pals as they took part in sports day.

Mr Jarvis said: “I was on the way back when I spotted somebody was in the water and then what must have been his friends on the shore jumping up and down trying to get my attention.

“As I got next to him he lost his grip on the boat he was holding and started to be taken out further by the tide.

“I got as close to him as I possibly could, cut the engine and helped him get on board.

“He just about had enough strength to get onto the back of the boat.

“We were about 100m out but I don’t think there was any way he would have made it back.

“The tide in that area is a bit like a funnel and makes things very rough.

“When he was on board he seemed fine to me - a bit tired - and we dropped him off on the beach.”

Mr Jarvis - who has been volunteering with the lifeboat for more than ten years - said it was a coincidence he was there at the time.

“I don’t usually come back to the island that way, I usually use the main channel, but for some reason I went back a different route this time,” he said.

“If I hadn’t have been there we would have had to take the orange lifeboat out and it would have been another seven or eight minutes.

“I guess you are never really off duty.”

Gazette:

Saved - Evan Theobald

Evan’s mum Jennifer said she was grateful for the help her son received.

She said: “I got a call from his friends on his phone saying he had got into difficulty in the water and they were worried about how he was reacting.

“So I shot down there and as I was driving I got another call saying he was making funny noises.

“When I got there he was on the floor so I called the ambulance.

“The air ambulance was there and the doctors checked him out but he went to hospital in the land ambulance.

“He is a very strong swimmer but he just went out too far and was taken out by the tide.

“I just want other parents and children to be careful.

“If it stops one person getting into trouble then talking about it will be worth it.”