SA Footy

British woman triggers sea rescue after film confusion

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/17/2141096.htm

An elderly woman in Scotland watching a film on television triggered an alert by calling coastguards to alert them to swimmers in distress after confusing drama with real life, an official says.

A Royal Navy helicopter, a lifeboat and a team of coastguards were sent to hunt for the "missing" bathers after a call from the unidentified woman in Ayr, south-west England.

But officials realised soon afterwards that the woman, who had been watching the 2003 film Open Water showing a couple being attacked by sharks while scuba diving, had imagined that the scenes on television were real.

"She was watching a program on TV and she phoned 999 (the emergency number in Britain) and asked for the coastguard," a local coastguard spokesman said.

"We could hear the screams in the background. She just thought it was a real incident happening in front of her."

He added: "You can't charge her with hoax calls, you just feel sorry for her."

Haha nah I can't take the credit for that. Don't quite consider myself elderly just yet and she's on the opposite side of the country. You'd think she might have wondered why, if they were in so much danger, the film crew that had to be there to provide her with pictures didn't lend a hand. I do feel a bit sorry for her if the elderly part was a factor ie dementia etc however Ayr isn't exactly a Mensa hotspot.

Regards
JAS