A fisherman with a knee injury was taken off his boat near Falmouth, in Cornwall, England, on Friday 23 October 2026. The RNLI lifeboat from Falmouth went out to help him. The RNLI is the UK's volunteer lifeboat service.
The weather was bad because of Storm Austen. The wind was force 7 to gale force 8 from the north-west.
What happened
The injured man was a crew member on a 21-metre French fishing boat. The boat was about 7 nautical miles east-south-east of Zone Point, near the entrance to Falmouth harbour. The skipper called HM Coastguard, the UK's sea rescue service.
The lifeboat crew got the alarm at 8:22 in the morning, local time. Their Shannon class lifeboat, Decibel Too, left at 8:40. It reached the fishing boat at 9:18.
The sea was too rough for a safe transfer at that spot. So the fishing boat and the lifeboat moved together to calmer water inside Falmouth Bay.
Two lifeboat crew members with first-aid training went on board the fishing boat. They checked the man and found that he had a dislocated knee. A dislocated knee means the bones of the knee have moved out of their normal place.
The man was moved to the lifeboat and taken ashore. The lifeboat arrived back at 10:30. He then went to a minor injuries unit, a small clinic for injuries that are not life-threatening. The fishing boat went back to sea.
Falmouth RNLI coxswain Luke Wills led the lifeboat crew. A coxswain is the person in charge of a lifeboat. He thanked the fishing boat's skipper for giving them "a good lee". This means the skipper turned the boat so it blocked the wind and waves, which made the transfer safer.
What crews can learn
If someone on board is hurt and needs care on shore, call the coastguard early. Do not wait for the weather to get worse.
In rough weather, a transfer between boats is dangerous. Moving to sheltered water first, as here, can make it much safer.
Help the rescue boat by keeping a steady course and giving it shelter from the wind and waves. Follow the rescuers' instructions.
Keep the injured person still and warm. Note what happened and when, so you can tell the rescuers.
Wet, moving decks cause many falls and leg injuries on fishing boats. Hold on, wear good boots and keep walkways clear in bad weather.
In UK waters, you can call HM Coastguard on VHF channel 16 or by phone on 999 or 112.
Cover photo: The building used by HM Coastguard (left, blue doors) and the RNLI lifeboat service (right, red doors) in Falmouth, Cornwall, in October 2024. Photo: Geof Sheppard/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped).
Sources: RNLI: Falmouth RNLI assist an injured seaman during Storm Austen (24 Oct 2026).
