Unconscious boy, 12, rescued from Aberdeenshire harbour after ‘tombstoning’ accident

A 12-year-old boy was pulled from an Aberdeenshire harbour this afternoon after being knocked unconscious ‘tombstoning’.

The youngster was with friends, jumping into the sea off the harbour wall at Gourdon when the accident happened at around 5.20pm.

He was in the sea when another child jumped on to him, knocking him out.

RNLI lifeboat crews from Montrose and Stonehaven were sent to the small harbour along with coastguard teams.

The Inverness coastguard helicopter was also scrambled.

But a bystander had pulled the youth from the water before rescuers had arrived on scene.

The boy regained consciousness there but was taken to hospital by ambulance.

After crews had been stood down, the coastguard issued a warning about the dangers of jumping off harbour walls, cliffs, bridges and other structures.

Coastguard officer Jonathan Mustard said: “Jumping off of harbour walls and other structures into water can be really dangerous.

“What might have been a deep pool can become a shallow puddle just a few hours later and you do not know what else is below the water.

“Please don’t jump into the unknown.”