Boy, 14, stays alive by keeping his head above sand while trapped in hole during Easter weekend beach horror that nearly ended in tragedy

• Boy had been standing in a hole when sand collapsed, nearly suffocating him 
• ***Do YOU know the parents of the boy? Email [email protected] or [email protected]***

Quick-thinking parents saved their son from being buried alive when a hole he was digging on a beach collapsed beneath him.

Only the 14-year-old boy’s head was visible after he was trapped up to the neck in the Bank Holiday horror.

The mother and father frantically dug handfuls of sand away to prevent it blocking the teenager’s mouth while screaming for help. They prevented him from suffocating as 999 workers raced to the scene in Anderby Creek, near Skegness, in Lincolnshire.

Rescuers said the 14-year-old was standing up in the hole when it collapsed beneath his feet at 12.45pm on Saturday. Had he been lying down, the incident could have ended in tragedy, they said.

The boy’s prevented him from suffocating as 999 workers raced to the scene in Anderby Creek, near Skegness, in Lincolnshire (file photo of the creek)

It took coastguard rescue teams and fire fighters more than an hour to dig him out because of fears the sand could collapse completely.

Fran Wilkins, HM Coastguard senior coastal operations officer, said: ‘What happens as you disturb the sand, there’s a high likelihood of it collapsing back in and the priority was to make sure at at all times his airway was protected and his head remained above the sand.

‘It needed lots of people in a coordinated effort to remove the sand in a way that we could get him out of the hole as quickly and as safely as possible.’

‘Luckily, he did remain calm throughout which definitely helped reduce the panic and allowed everyone to get to work and do their job.’

Rescuers said the 14-year-old was standing up in the hole when it collapsed beneath his feet (file photo of the creek)

She praised his parents for keeping the sand out of his mouth and calling for help.

‘There’s that instinct to keep trying to dig, but the more you disturb and weaken that sand that has collapsed in, you’re potentially going to create a much bigger hole.

‘They kept his head clear and his mouth and nose free so he could breathe and waited for more to help which was really really important for him.’

She warned beachgoers to consider the size and location of the hole and be mindful that ‘the larger it is the higher the chances it may collapse’.

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