**Father Overcomes Painful Past to Save Child from Drowning on Welsh Beach**
A father from Llandudno has been hailed a hero after he braved the treacherous waters of West Shore beach to rescue a young boy whose inflatable dinghy had drifted perilously far from the shore. Driven by memories of his own family tragedy, the 53-year-old, who wishes to stay anonymous, spoke candidly of his decision to risk his life when he spotted the boy in obvious distress.
The incident unfolded on Sunday, 13 July, during a busy heatwave afternoon at one of Llandudno’s most popular beaches. Winds from the land whipped up strong offshore gusts as holidaymakers and residents alike enjoyed the sun. It was amidst this scene that the emergency erupted—a boy, stranded after his inflatable toy was caught by the breeze, was struggling some 200 yards out in the Conwy estuary.
Onlookers watched in mounting alarm. The boy’s cries were reportedly audible for an extended period before his panicked father, along with an off-duty lifeguard, attempted the daunting swim to reach him. It was then that the unnamed rescuer, having spotted the unfolding crisis, sprang into action. “There was a good chance not all three of them would come back,” he later reflected.
Haunted by the memory of losing two brothers in a tragic drowning decades earlier, the man made a swift, fateful decision. With a wetsuit already on after a paddleboard outing with his own son, he grabbed a nearby child’s paddleboard and raced to the water, his family watching anxiously from the shore. “My mum and dad lost two sons to the sea. I’ve seen the devastation something like this can cause,” he said, his voice weighted with emotion. “I had to try.”
As he paddled out, the reality of his situation dawned on him—it was far easier to reach the boy with the wind at his back than it would be to return. The rescue became even more precarious when he found the small board had little room for two. Nevertheless, he managed to pull the frightened child, who had begun ingesting water, onto the back of the board and started the arduous return.
The ordeal did not go unnoticed by others on the water. Kayakers nearby saw the pair’s struggle against wind and current, lending the rescuer an adult-sized paddle to bolster their hopes of making it back. He admitted, “I was completely exhausted when I reached the beach. I’m not sure I’d have managed it without their help.”
Upon reaching land, the boy was reunited with his shaken father and attended by RNLI volunteers from Conwy, who checked him over as a precaution. The rescuer, meanwhile, was overcome by fatigue and emotion, quietly joining his family members by the sea wall amid the renewed bustle of the shoreline.
Safety at West Shore has become a growing concern for locals. Only the day prior to the rescue, another group was caught off-guard by a surging tide, requiring assistance from emergency crews. The beach, famed for its scenic sunsets and extensive sands revealed at low tide, is no stranger to dangerous tidal shifts. Regular visitors and anglers have voiced worries about the power of the currents and the need for more visible warnings, especially for tourists unfamiliar with the area’s risks.
Some residents have called for measures including permanent lifeguard stations or public address systems, particularly during peak summer months. Others praise the existing red flag system for warning of dangerous conditions but acknowledge it may be unfamiliar to holidaymakers from overseas.
The boy and his father are said to have expressed their gratitude as they left the beach, but the modest rescuer insists he merely did what any “right-minded person would do”. For many who know his story, his actions exemplified not just bravery, but the determination to prevent another family from enduring loss such as that which irrevocably changed his own.
As the dust settles on another dramatic day in Llandudno, calls for greater beach safety persist, with locals hoping that the incident will prompt further action to protect swimmers from perilous conditions. For now, the tide has left behind not only a story of courage, but a solemn reminder of the sea’s unpredictable power.