Top accolade for brave Yeovil airman

A Yeovil man has been awarded one of Britain's top honours for his courage in the face of two difficult rescues with the Royal Navy's Scottish search and rescue unit, HMS Gannet.

Leading Aircrewman Kevin Regan, aged 29, put himself out on a limb to save numerous lives during the rescues concerned and has now been awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for his exploits.

The first incident took place in June 2007, which involved rescuing a man in the cold waters of Loch Long in Argyll.

Plucking people from the water to safety is fairly routine but, in this instance, the man was high on drugs and very aggressive. When the team from HMS Gannet arrived the police boat was already on scene. They, however, had been unable to get the man out of the water.

LA Regan was lowered on a short line from the helicopter and was faced with similar verbal and physical abuse, before the man passed out from exhaustion, allowing him to be winched clear – a difficult task as he was essentially a dead weight.

The recovery complete, LA Regan gave him emergency first aid while en route to hospital.

In the second incident in January 2008, he was part of the HMS Gannet team which rescued six people from the deck of the stricken ferry, MV Riverdance.

In dreadful weather, HMS Gannet's on-call crew joined colleagues from RAF Valley's search and rescue station, as well as the HM Coastguard helicopter from Belfast, to go to the aid of 23 people on the roll-on, roll-off ferry near Blackpool.

On arrival the HMS Gannet team stood by in a co-ordination role for the RAF while they winched eight of the crew to safety. Once the RAF moved off station, the Royal Navy's team manoeuvred into place and quickly removed a further six people.

The ferry was listing to 45 degrees in heavy seas with howling wind. The rescue had to be precise but rapid and LA Regan, once lowered on to the deck of the ferry, was organised and quick-thinking.

Of the honour, he said: "I am very proud to have been recognised in this way, it was a great surprise. In my 12-year career, these are two of the toughest rescues I have been involved in, both for different reasons.

"The ferry rescue required me to stay calm and focused in the midst of some awful weather. It's just what you have to do, mind over matter, if you like.

"I knew that time was of the essence and that I was dealing with scared people. I managed to get onto the deck of the ferry and set about getting people winched up two at a time, while I remained on the ship to keep people keep calm and make the job quicker.

"With the other rescue, the biggest difficulty was overcoming the man's aggression towards me but I knew I had to keep trying, he'd been in the water for almost half an hour and that's enough for hypothermia at the very least.

"So, even though he wasn't necessarily the most compliant person I've ever rescued, there's no way I was going to leave him. He was just very confused as a result of the drugs."

HMS Gannet's Commanding Officer, Lt-Cdr Bryan Nicholas, said: "I couldn't be more proud of Kev. We have a unit here of highly-trained and experienced crews and Kev was able to go above and beyond to achieve the right results. Despite his own vulnerability, he demonstrated exceptional bravery and tenacity. They really were dangerous rescues and he thoroughly deserves this recognition."

All together, five members of HMS Gannet, including a total of 20 per cent of the Royal Navy's personnel at the unit, learned that they had been variously awarded the Air Force Cross, Queen's Gallantry Medal and Queen's Commendation for Bravery in the Air.

The honours covered four complex and dangerous rescues which, in total, led to more than 20 lives being saved.