A STUDENT dressed in a ball gown who ran to help a girl who had fallen from rocks has been praised by coastguards.
Lucy Reis, 20, was on her way to her graduation ball at the University of St Andrews in Fife when she heard someone had been hurt on the town’s Castle Sands.
Reis took off her shoes and climbed over rocks, still dressed in her ball gown, to help the youngster, who was unconscious and lying near a pool of water at St Andrews Castle.
The St Andrews coastguard rescue team and a helicopter were alerted and the rescued girl was flown to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee as a precaution. Reis, a third-year art history and psychology student, said: “We were on Castle Sands and there were some other people on the beach, and a lot of commotion and people getting upset.
“They were saying that there had been an accident and someone had been hurt. I took my shoes off and clambered over the rocks.
“There was a girl lying on the rocks round the corner near a pool of water. She appeared to be unconscious. I don’t know first aid but we thought she should be kept still. She was not responding and I checked her head for injuries.
“We were trying to get her to respond, which she did after a while. She started to throw up, so we turned her onto her side and kept talking to her and asking her name.”
Another student, Andrew Robbins, helped Reis comfort the injured girl during the incident last weekend.
“I’m very glad that we were able to help the girl that and her injuries were not worse. But to be clear, Lucy really is owed more of the credit,” Robbins said. “She was extremely calm, helpful and compassionate through everything.”
Three of the coastguard team who came to the rescue are full-time members of university staff – Dr Cameron Rae, technical manager at the photonics innovation centre, Duncan Brannen, IT systems team leader, and David Stutchfield, sustainability manager, estates.
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