Mum's 'nightmare' trip to Blackpool ends in near tragedy as boys clung to pier

A near tragedy in Blackpool is prompting warnings for coastal safety ahead of World Drowning Prevention Day. Zully, a mother of four from Leeds, said her family visit during the May half-term ended with her 10-year-old son, Zubby, and a 12-year-old nephew, Kizza, getting cut off by the incoming tide beside a pier and clinging to stanchions as waves crashed around them. Zully reported that she saw her son’s head disappear and feared he was going under while she scrambled but could not reach them; footage later released by the RNLI showed her older son Ted, 21, also trying to get out from the pier. A member of the public made a 999 call, and Blackpool’s RNLI lifeboat was dispatched, reaching the scene within four minutes. The D-class inshore lifeboat maneuvered alongside the pier supports to pull the children aboard, then delivered them to paramedics waiting shoreline. The RNLI said the crew had been paged 11 times in seven days.