A man has been rushed to hospital after his friends found him face down and not breathing following a free dive off an island in Argyll and Bute.
Stornoway Coastguard received a 999 call reporting someone was seriously injured on Maiden Island, at the northern entrance to Oban Bay, shortly before 3pm on Monday.
A rescue helicopter was scrambled while the RNLI Oban Lifeboat Crew were joined by two Scottish Ambulance Service paramedics as they raced to help the injured man and his pals.
The casualty, who had been pulled from the water onto rocks, was given oxygen before being rushed back to shore and taken to Lorn and Islands Hospital. His current condition is not known.
The four friends were safely brought back to land by the RNLI crew.
Oban Lifeboat Coxswain Ally Cerexhe said: “This was a multi-agency rescue, not just involving our colleagues from the Scottish Ambulance Service but also Coastguard teams on the shore and the Coastguard helicopter Rescue 199 from Prestwick.
“We’d particularly like to thank the crew of a local fishing boat who were helping on the scene when we arrived.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service said: "We received a call at 1456 hours on Monday to attend an incident in Oban. We dispatched one ambulance to the scene and transported one male patient to Lorn and Islands Hospital."
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