Elephant Sessions fiddler Euan Smillie becomes volunteer with RNLI after he was saved by Kessock Lifeboat as teenager
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A lad who was saved by the RNLI when he was a teenager is repaying the favour by becoming a trainee with his rescuers.
Euan Smillie, from Kilmuir, was just 14 when he and his father got into trouble while kayaking around the Kessock Bridge.
The RNLI Kessock Lifeboat was called out on a Mayday call, the highest order of distress at sea, and Euan was brought home safely.
Mr Smillie described the experience: “We set off that afternoon exactly the same as we had hundreds of times before, but conditions switched quickly. The running spring tide turned, plus a change in wind direction resulted in really difficult water to navigate.”
His father’s kayak was swept away, leaving Euan pinned between the stanchions of the Kessock Bridge alone.
His father alerted the life-saving crew who successfully retrieved both of them during the tricky operation.
Mr Smillie went on to study music at the University of the Highlands and Islands and became fiddler with well-known band Elephant Sessions.
However, during the pandemic he returned to the local area and decided to undertake RNLI training and became a part of the crew.
Mr Smillie continued: “Our rescue seems a long time ago now but it really brings home to me that events can change so quickly at sea and the fact that the lifeboat can be launched to the aid of the people in distress is amazing.
“I am very proud to be part of this volunteer crew and grateful for the public donations which fund all of our training and kit.”
The RNLI is about to launch a huge recruitment drive to find more enthusiastic volunteers.
RNLI crew breaks off from training to respond to distress call
