An East Lothian woman has thanked the local RNLI for giving her an 'extra 56 years of life' after they saved her at just 14.
The Dunbar RNLI lifeboat crew this week paid a touching tribute to local gran Joan Scambler, who left the organisation £14,000 in her will. Desperate to give back to the charity, the 69-year-old had helped out for most of her adult live after crews all the way back in the 1960s saved her from drowning at sea.
With nowhere near the same equipment as in modern day, volunteers were able to bring Joan aboard the lifeboat in April 1965, after she had capsized off the coast. Paying their respects to Joan after her "generous" donation, the RNLI shared her story on social media, with the local grandmother claiming that the dramatic sea rescue gave her an extra 56 years of life.
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During the terrifying ordeal, Joan's friend Arnold ‘Noll’ Togneri said he had helped keep her afloat, but she had been fearing for her life when the lifeboat reached her.
Noll, 72, said: “I was at East Beach with a big old-fashioned wood and canvas canoe. Several of us where there. It was a nice April day, but cold with a fairly stiff westerly breeze. Jack and Mark had a shot and then Joan came along with a friend and wanted a shot.”
Joan took Noll’s canoe, while her friend Linda Sinclair, also 14, took his friend’s smaller canoe out sometime after 4pm. Noll said: “The bay was calm but I told Joan not to go as far as the white horses further out.”
However, within a few minutes both girls got into difficulties. Linda managed to turn her canoe and reach shore safely, but Joan struggled to handle hers. Realising that Joan was in trouble, Noll set off in his friend’s canoe, while Jack alerted the coastguard. Noll reached Joan but as he tried to turn her canoe towards shore it capsized sending Joan into the water. She tried to hang onto the stern of his canoe but it too sank, leaving them both in the water.
Noll said: “Joan was in jeans and fashion boots which made it difficult for her to swim. I was in trunks and a shirt. We were about a mile and a half offshore and by now it was very cold. I was trying to keep her up.”
Shortly after 4.50pm the maroons were fired and four minutes later the Watson-class lifeboat Margaret launched from the harbour.
Davie Lees, now 82, is the last surviving member of the crew that day. The former fisherman responded to the call, along with coxswain Robert George Brunton, engineer Andrew Smith, his son Charlie, Zander Wilson and Bob Marr.
Davie, who spent four years on the crew and later returned as a DLA and Lifeboat Operations Manager, said: “We got to them quite quickly but they were getting blown off. She was hanging on but couldn’t hang on much longer.
“We picked them up, got them on board and Zander Wilson, who was our first aider then, got blankets to warm them up and we brought them to shore. Joan was on the verge of hypothermia.”
Noll said he and Joan spent the night in Dunbar Cottage Hospital at East Links but they were none the worse for their ordeal.
Continuing to live most of her life in East Lothian, Joan had worked in a local post office and pet shop before her retirement, before she sadly passed away in January 2021.
With her family set to present the cheque to the RNLI on July 16, Veronica Davies said: “On behalf of the RNLI, we really appreciate the kindness of the late Joan Scambler and her family at what must have been a very difficult time. This was a beautiful gesture in remembrance of Joan and we are truly thankful for this very generous donation. The donation will greatly help the RNLI, a cause that Joan was very passionate about, to continue saving lives at sea.”
Joan’s brother Alan Scambler said: “Joan was always most grateful to the RNLI for saving her and they gave her an additional 56 years of life. Joan was generous to a fault and in part of her will she bequeathed £14,360 each to five different charities.”
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