By Moira Kerr
THE incredible mileage he has clocked up at sea could have seen him travelling half way round the world – from Oban to Sydney via Cape Horn.
However, stalwart RNLI volunteer Dr Colin Wilson has, instead, dedicated the last three decades to saving lives a little closer to home.
He is retiring from the crew of the Oban lifeboat, having completed 12,668 miles and more than 1,100 hours attending 660 call outs.
Dr Wilson has also completed countless training exercises and delivery trips during his voluntary work with the charity that saves lives at sea.
A love of the water and wanting to help those in distress were the factors which led to the Oban GP signing up for lifeboat crew service in 1990.
Explaining the fulfilment of assisting people in difficulty, Dr Wilson said: “You have taken somebody who, possibly through no fault of their own, has possibly got himself close to death, that you have saved.
“To see the orange and blue lifeboat at sea, it must be a huge feeling of relief.”
He added: “It’s making a difference.
“There are few things in the world where you can say ‘I have made a difference’ and not only have you made a difference, you have made a difference to him and his family and friends.”
He added: “I had been a keen sailor for many years and I had never required to use the RNLI, but it was providing your own insurance policy, helping to provide that safety element for people at sea.”
His longest “shout” in April 2011 lasted 13 hours after the lifeboat was called out to five different incidents, one after the other.
And his most memorable call out was back in January 1998, when the crew received an alert on the night of their annual crew dinner to help a canoeist who had capsized in Loch Linnhe.
He said: “It was a cold night, it was rough.
“The weather got bad, he was reported missing and we went searching.
“We found him, he was very hypothermic and was lucky to survive.
“When he was extracted from the canoe, from the water, his arm was rigid, he was rigid with cold.
“He was transferred by helicopter to Oban and he made a good recovery.”
Dr Wilson’s 35 years’ experience as a local GP and time served as a senior partner of Oban’s Lorn Medical Centre have seen his voluntary role extend further within the RNLI.
He has contributed as a Lifeboat Medical Adviser and Regional Medical Adviser for Scotland, as well as serving on the charity’s medical committee.
“I will miss working as part of a really great crew and team,” he said.
“I have shared in both the joy of many successes and in the sadness surrounding some less happy events, providing care and support wherever possible.
“I hope to continue my association with Oban Lifeboat by volunteering in a different capacity.”
He added: “I thank all crew, past and present, for great memories of working in a fantastic team, in training, in fundraising and ultimately, while out at sea on shouts. I also salute all those who support the RNLI throughout the country in the many ways that they do, helping those in trouble at sea.”
The thanks of the entire Oban lifeboat team go out to Dr Wilson for his commitment over the past 30 years.
Ian Henry, his fellow crew member with Oban lifeboat for the last three decades, said: “Colin has been an absolute stalwart and aside from being a mentor, fount of knowledge, medical advisor both formal and informal, medicinal coffee prescriber, he has first and foremost been a friend.”
He added: “I know I speak for everyone when I say the door is always open.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here