Overview

• HM Coastguard, RNLI, volunteer brigades and lifeguards joined ambulance crews and police in a large-scale response when the girl got into difficulty.
• The Great North Air Ambulance Service landed on the sand to deliver specialist care before airlifting the teenager to hospital.
• Northumbria Police set up a cordon near Spanish City car park and have kept a multi-agency presence at the scene.
• A spokesperson confirmed the girl remains in hospital in a critical condition more than 24 hours after the incident.
• The rescue underscores the risks of swimming in the North Sea and the value of coordinated coastal emergency services.