Top honours for brave lifeboatman

Andy Rodgers, who is now the RNLI’s Divisional Maintenance Manager, was at Workington lifeboat station when the crew were called to help a 25-metre trawler in storm force winds last December.

With a seriously injured crewman on board, the trawler had suffered mechanical failure and was being battered against the outer wall of Whitehaven Harbour.

As the lifeboat left Workington, 33-year-old Mr Rodgers, left for Whitehaven by car with other volunteers.

He managed to jump across the gap between the jetty and the heaving boat “at considerable risk to himself” and help with the rescue.

He and the coxswain of the lifeboat John Stobbart will receive The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum.

Sarah Nimmo-Scott, RNLI Deputy Divisional Inspector, said the actions of the two men and the crew saved the man’s life and prevented the vessel from breaking up. She described Mr Rodgers’ actions as “selfless and brave.”