Philippa Bull, a berthing master at Premier’s Brighton Marina, has been awarded a Royal Humane Society Award for rescuing a member of the public from the water during a night duty.

Philippa has received a certificate of commendation to be presented by the RNLI, with this reward recognising and celebrating her act of bravery in saving a man’s life.

The incident happened at approximately 5.45am on the 26 November 2016 while Philippa was walking the marina’s pontoons on her night duties. She saw a man in the water, between the stern of a boat and the pontoon. Having found out the man had been in the water for ten minutes, Philippa instinctively called security and told them to call an ambulance. She shouted loudly for help but no one was to hand, then guided the man’s feet onto a boarding ladder before pulling him up and onto the bathing platform. She then put him in the recovery position and covered him with a rug; security arrived soon after and proceeded to ensure the man was warm and they kept him talking. Philippa adjusted Catalina’s lines so the ambulance crew could safely remove the casualty from the boat, onto a stretcher and into the ambulance where he was taken to hospital.

Philippa, a former violin teacher before taking three years out to sail round the world on her 36’ steel yacht, is Brighton Marina’s first female berthing master.

She said, “I feel extremely honoured to be awarded the prestigious Royal Humane Society Award. The majority of staff here at Brighton Marina are first aid trained and we do have a defibrillator available to the public. I would like to reinforce the dangers that come from spending time on the water and remind everyone to wear lifejackets and take extra care getting on and off boats – especially after an evening out.”

 

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