A FORMER member of the RNLI lifeboat crew in Lyme Regis was rescued after falling on rocks.

A FORMER member of the RNLI lifeboat crew in Lyme Regis was rescued after falling on rocks.Bob Gradden, 61, had been fishing between Pinhay and Seven Rock Point when he fell and struck his head on Friday, April 10.He used his mobile phone to dial 999. Crew members Lance Taylor and Elliot Herbert swam across to assist him and at about the same time a coastguard helicopter arrived.He was bleeding heavily from his head and was airlifted to hospital in Dorchester.Mr Gradden who served with the lifeboat in 1966 and now lives in Sutton, Surrey, said: "The sea was up to my ankles with the spring tide coming in when I was rescued. "I could barely see because of the blood. If I had lost consciousness I would not be here now."The lifeboat crew, the coastguards and helicopter crew all did a superbly professional job and I am very grateful to them all.