Two teenage sisters who used a lilo to rescue a man and his young son when they got into difficulty off the north-east coast of Scotland “deserve medals”, according to the emergency services.

Isla and Eilidh Noble were on the beach at the Waters of Philorth, near Fraserburgh, on Monday afternoon when they heard shouting. At first they thought the man was playing with his child, who was on his shoulders as he swam in deep water, but quickly realised he was out of his depth and in trouble.

The Fraserburgh Academy pupils, who had been paddling in the shallows, said “the adrenaline kicked in” as 15-year-old Isla took the lilo out to the struggling pair while Eilidh, 14, raced back to the beach to call 999.

They were assisted by another man, Keith Gray, who helped pull the father and son back in to the beach, and a nurse, Sophie Ross, who was walking along the beach as the drama unfolded.

Isla and Eilidh were paddling when they spotted the man in trouble. Photograph: RNLI/PA

Speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme, Isla said: “We were just out paddling with our lilo and we saw a man and toddler out, and they were deeper than us.

“We thought the toddler started screaming but we thought the dad was just dunking him under as a laugh and he was getting cold – but then the dad starting shouting ‘help’.”

“I went out with the lilo to go try and take him back in while Eilidh went and got the phone that we had in the bag that we had on the beach.

“We couldn’t stand because we were out too deep so I tried to put the toddler on the lilo and then as I pulled the toddler up the dad came up a wee bit as well, so I made sure that his head was out the water.

“Luckily, there was another man, Keith – he had seen what was happening and he was already halfway in the water by this point – so he came and swam out and grabbed the other side of the lilo and we both managed to take them in.”



A post on the RNLI Fraserburgh Lifeboat Facebook page, which reported that the father was airlifted to hospital after falling unconscious when he reached the beach, praised the girls for their quick thinking.

Members of the emergency services who helped rescue the man and child. Photograph: RNLI/PA

“Isla and Eilidh and Keith did brilliant. The girls, for being so young and springing into action and having the presence of mind to phone the coastguard and calmly give them the details of the incident, enabled the emergency services including ourselves to respond and arrive so quickly.

“Make no mistake, their presence and actions today made all the difference. They all deserve medals.”