In This Article
Subscribe to Human Interest Updates
U.K. Man Who Saved Girl Reprimanded
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Paul Waugh climbed onto a crumbling cliff edge to rescue a thirteen-year-old. He later resigned from the coastguard when his bosses complained he had flouted health and safety regulations.
30-Second Summary
When Paul Waugh reached Faye Harrison, she was clinging 200 feet above the ground at Salburn-on-Sea in the north of England. She had been there for 45 minutes.
Forty-four-year-old Waugh, who was later nominated for an award, neglected to fetch his safety equipment from his vehicle. Instead, he went straight onto the cliff in the dark, finding his way using the light from a circling helicopter.
In a BBC Radio interview, he explained that his employers at Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency reprimanded him for breaching health and safety regulations.
A spokesman for the MCA said that it “was not looking for dead heroes.”
Explaining why he had acted with such speed, Waugh told the BBC, “If I’d have seen her fall, my life wouldn’t have been worth living.”
Forty-four-year-old Waugh, who was later nominated for an award, neglected to fetch his safety equipment from his vehicle. Instead, he went straight onto the cliff in the dark, finding his way using the light from a circling helicopter.
In a BBC Radio interview, he explained that his employers at Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency reprimanded him for breaching health and safety regulations.
A spokesman for the MCA said that it “was not looking for dead heroes.”
Explaining why he had acted with such speed, Waugh told the BBC, “If I’d have seen her fall, my life wouldn’t have been worth living.”
Headline Links: ‘Cliff Hero Resigns in Safety Row’
Faye Harrison had been to the beach with her friends. As it got dark and the tide rose, they climbed the cliff to go home, but Faye was trapped. According to the BBC, “She was left hanging on to tufts of grass for 45 minutes.”
Source: The BBC
The BBC Radio interview in which Paul Waugh resigns is available online in RealPlayer. “I did break a rule, because I didn’t use the equipment, and we don’t break rules in the coastguard. Everything’s health and safety,” said Waugh. Explaining why he broke the rule, he said, “Just seeing a frightened face, a child … If I’d have seen her fall, my life wouldn’t have been worth living.” He reports in the interview that he is in trouble with his bosses.
Source: BBC Radio Tees
Reaction: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has a page on its Web site responding to Waugh’s radio resignation. It reads, “We do not know why Mr. Waugh has decided to use local radio to tell us he is leaving the Coastguard Rescue Service. We have had no formal confirmation from him.” It continues, “The MCA ask volunteers to take a commonsense view of the risks involved, and to ensure that whatever action they take does not put anyone in further danger.”
Source: Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Opinion: ‘Cowards Who Are Killing Off Our Heroes’
British journalist and author Allison Pearson blasted the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, identifying its criticism of Waugh as a symptom of a cowardly bureaucracy that is stifling the British spirit. “That spirit has endured through British history,” wrote Pearson, “and in peacetime in the contract of understanding between the public and the emergency services. Should we be told there is a new contract, drawn up by pen-pushers, which promotes institutionalized cowardice.”
Source: The Daily Mail
Most Recent Beyond The Headlines
© 2012 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
