July 16th 1995 saw unseasonal rough seas around the South east coast. Dover lifeboat 'Rotary Service' had just returned from a service call to a broken down cabin cruiser when Coxswain Tony Hawkins was notified of an incident off Shakespeare Beach. Some children had got into trouble in the water there and one had been badly injured.

Once on scene Coxswain Hawkins deployed two crew in the inflatable 'Y' boat to the crowd gathered on the beach. Arriving on the beach they found ambulance paramedics already there, treating two casualties; the injured boy and a lady who had assisted in rescuing the children suffering an asthma attack, shock and hypothermia. The paramedics advised against transferring the injured boy by lifeboat and therefore Coxswain Hawkins requested a helicopter.

Whilst waiting for the helicopter the 'Y' boat was used to ferry first aid supplies and more crew to assist on the beach.

The Squirrel helicopter operated by the Kent Air Ambulance Trust arrived and some extremely skillful flying followed. The landing site was the narrow sea wall and the pilot Mr Eddings was only able to place the front half of the landing skids on the seawall with the tail hanging out over the sea. Whilst he held the aircraft in this precarious hover, lifeboatman G. Stupples acted as an extra pair of eyes for him indicating the distance to the cliff face. The distance between the chalk cliff and the rotor blades was never more than 2.5 metres, and the waves breaking against the sea wall were sending water at times over the tail rotor.

Once the injured boy was loaded aboard the helicopter, Mr Eddings carefully lifted the helicopter off the sea wall and flew the boy to hospital. The sick lady was taken out to 'Rotary Service' on the 'Y' boat, where first aid was continued. She was handed over to an ambulance crew when the lifeboat arrived back in Dover.

Letters of Appreciation were sent by the RNLI Chief of Operations, Commodore George Cooper, to the lifeboat crew involved and the Kent Air Ambulance Trust.

This dramatic rescue was later recreated for the BBC television series '999'.