A twelve-year-old boy was rescued a mile off the coast of Wales today when he drifted away from shore with only a child's rubber ring to keep him afloat.

A lifeboat crew saved the boy as he suffered from hypothermia and was about to fall unconscious. If he had, the crew said, he would have slipped out of the floating ring and drowned.

The boy had been playing by the seaside and had been carried off by the current into the sea. He had been drifting about 45 minutes when the rescuers found him.

The UK's National Health Service reports that lifeguards respond to more than 13,000 incidents a year on the UK's beaches. Many of these incidents are due to rip tides, which are more common than most people think, the NHS says. Inflatables are easily pulled out to sea by currents and strong winds.

If you are going to the beach, follow these important beach safety tips. And parents, please watch your children. You don't want them to become a news item.

[Photo courtesy Greg Yap]

Filed under: Europe, United Kingdom, Travel Health