Rescued crew 'lucky to be alive'

Bill and John aboard the coastguard helicopter

A coastguard helicopter captain has been describing his amazement at the rescue of two fishermen who had been clinging to their stricken boat for 25 hours.

Bill Hepburn and John Gowan from Glenrothes, Fife, were winched from their capsized vessel Hellraiser midway between the Mull of Galloway and the Isle of Man.

An air and sea rescue had been launched after the men failed to return home on Monday morning.

Captain Bill Brophy, who plucked the pair to safety, said a combination of good weather and the actions of the two men probably helped save their lives.

Apparently one of the guys went underneath the boat to get the survival gear and in my opinion that was probably a lifesaving action Bill Brophy, Irish coastguard

The men were spotted on Monday by the crew of P&O ferry European Seafarer, which sails between England and Northern Ireland.

"We were searching about four minutes away from the scene and headed straight to them and saw them clinging to the boat, lashed to the bow," said Captain Brophy.

"They were on a tiny wee bit of the bow, about one fifth of the boat was left sticking out of the water, so it was very difficult to spot from the air."

The rescued men, who were thought to be suffering from hypothermia, were flown to Nobles Hospital in Douglas on the Isle of Man.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said they had now been discharged.

'Absolutely amazed'

Captain Brophy added: "To survive 25 hours exposed like that is quite unusual and one of the main things that helped them was that they had survival suits and I'm sure that enhanced their survivability by four or five-fold.

"Apparently one of the guys went underneath the boat to get the survival gear and in my opinion that was probably a lifesaving action.

"In a rescue situation like that generally speaking you're always looking at the worst case scenario, so we were absolutely amazed to find them."