A SWIMMER has been winched to safety and flown to hospital after getting into difficulty in the Moray Firth.
A rescue operation was launched after a member of the public heard the man shouting for help at around 8.20pm last night and called police, who alerted the coastguard.
A coastguard helicopter went to the scene off Nairn along with Kessock RNLI inshore lifeboat, Moray inshore rescue boat, which is independent, and coastguard teams from Inverness and Nairn.
The swimmer was winched into the helicopter and flown to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
He got into difficulty after being caught out by the tide and was said to be severely hypothermic when rescued as he had been in the water for around two hours.
The Kessock RNLI lifeboat team described the incident in a post on their Facebook page.
They wrote: “Kessock lifeboat were diverted from a training exercise this evening, Monday 19th April 2021, by HM Coastguard to reports of a casualty in the water requiring assistance east of Nairn Harbour.
“Our Atlantic 85 was nearing the end of its exercise and the crew of four quickly diverted back east into the Moray Firth and made speed towards the reported location.
“As our lifeboat, and an asset from MIRO (Moray Inshore Rescue Organisation) arrived on scene Rescue 151 were winching the casualty from the water and transporting to Raigmore Hospital for continued medical assistance.
“The crew at Kessock convey their best wishes for a recovery to the casualty.”
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