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LAST month police officers of Marine East Division
were patrolling the waters off Fat Tong Mun near Tung Lung when they came across a man in a
sampan calling for help. He told the officers of small boat 67 that two men, both experienced rock
climbers, were trapped on a shallow reef in the mouth of a cave in extremely rugged terrain. One of
the climbers had fallen 150 metres off the face of the cliff and was in critical condition with two broken
legs and smashed ribs.
"We rushed to the scene, but were initially unable to approach the stranded men due to the swiftness of the current and the shallow waters flowing over the jagged reef," said Police Constable Chong Tung-kwong. "We had to pull up the engine of the boat and row towards the cave. We still couldn't reach them but saw that the injured man, Au-Yeung Kin, was in extreme pain. The bone on one of his broken legs was jutting through the flesh." | 
Police officers of Marine East Division help transfer rock-climbing casualty Au Yeung Kin to waiting ambulance after pulling off their daring sea rescue |
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Due to the hazardous sea conditions and the lack of suitable life-saving equipment on board small boat 67 for this particular situation, the officers sped back to their mother ship, Marine Police Launch 72, where they retrieved sufficient equipment and called the Government Flying Service for assistance. Then Sergeant Wong Hiu-ming and Police Constables Tse Kai, Lau Ka-hing, Chang Kit-ying, Fa Po-fu and Chong Tung-kwong sped back to the scene. The ensuing rescue can only be described as daring. When they returned to the scene the sea conditions had dramatically deteriorated. "We were still unable to row the small boat into the cave, so we anchored it about 15 metres from the injured rock-climbers, and PCs Chong, Lau and I swam to the men," recalled Sergeant Wong, whose life jacket was cut to shreds by the current pulling him over the reef. When the officers reached the men, they placed Mr Au-Yeung on a hastily devised stretcher with two lifesavers strapped underneath it. Then, with the assistance of the injured man's climbing partner, they carefully floated him against the current back to the small boat. "I have been in the service for about twenty years, but this was the first time I've faced such a difficult situation," recalled Sergeant Wong. "Because of the extreme circumstances, we had to quickly adapt our lifesaving equipment to deal with the uniqueness of the situation." Recalling the rescue, PC Chong who has been in the Force for about five years, said he will never forget the freezing temperature of the sea. "Although, at the time, we were totally oblivious to the cold. All we had on our minds was to retrieve the injured man as quickly and safely as possible. It wasn't until after the rescue operation that we realised just how cold we were from the freezing water and biting wind. Not long after the rescue, officers taking part in the rescue visited Mr Au-Yeung in the hospital where he was recovering from his ordeal. | |
