VodaSafe Inc. to Appoint ‘Beneath the Surface’ as First UK AquaEye Ambassador
Family of Drowning Victim Supports Lancashire-based Volunteer Search & Recovery Team
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, February 28, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Thomas Stoddart and Tracey Gibson (family of Greig Stoddart), Phil Jones (founder of Beneath the Surface) and AquaEye-makers VodaSafe, invite media to an AquaEye ‘handoff’ event at Gartmorn Dam in Scotland on March 16, 2024 at 10AM.
The location is significant as it was the site of the December 24th drowning of Greig Stoddart and friend Ian McBurney in a fishing mishap, that brought all the parties together. McBurney’s body was recovered just 2 days later on Boxing Day. However, almost 3 weeks of police searches went by with no sign of Greig Stoddart.
Desperate to bring him home, Greig’s cousin, Thomas Stoddart, reached out to Lancashire-based Beneath the Surface, (a volunteer, specialized water search group). Beneath the Surface attended the scene on January 14th and in just 2 hours, their team located Greig's body, and his boat, using an AquaEye handheld sonar scanner borrowed from another search team.
Said Thomas Stoddart, "The minute the team came out of the water and told us they had found Greig was the biggest weight off everyone’s shoulders”. In a nod to Beneath the Surface and AquaEye Mr. Stoddart added, "It took just two hours in the water to find Greig with this game-changing piece of equipment”. Thomas was so grateful, he started a Go-Fund-Me campaign to provide an AquaEye to the Beneath the Surface team. There are more than 75 drownings annually in Scotland.
When VodaSafe saw the BBC story on the incident, they reached out to Thomas. They then connected to Beneath the Surface founder Phil Jones to see if they were willing to become AquaEye Ambassadors, representing AquaEye in their region and advocating for change by demonstrating the huge improvement that AquaEye brings to water rescue teams. Said Mr. Jones, “We are honoured to become AquaEye Ambassadors. Last year we helped on 13 searches across the UK. AquaEye will help us bring closure to loved ones more quickly, and keep our volunteers safer while they're doing often dangerous work”.
VodaSafe’s goal is to save lives through safer, faster water rescue, and, if it is too late to save a life, to provide closure to families sooner, while keeping the searchers safe. The ‘AquaEye Ambassadors’ program was launched specifically to support that aim. AquaEye Ambassadors are highly-trained and experienced water rescue and recovery volunteers or professionals using AquaEye to make a difference.
About Beneath the Surface.
Beneath the Surface are a volunteer underwater sonar search and recovery dive team based in Lancashire, England. The group responds to searches for missing people in the water, across the United Kingdom.
About Vogt-CTE
Vogt-CTE is a specialized rescue technology distributor, serving resellers and specialist dealers throughout EUROPE. Vogt are AquaEye Master Distributors in Europe.
About VodaSafe Inc.
VodaSafe has revolutionized water rescue and recovery globally with the development and delivery of its flagship product, AquaEye, the world’s first hand-held intelligent sonar device. Combining sonar and artificial intelligence technologies specifically designed to identify humans, AquaEye can search nearly an acre of water in one minute. Born at the intersection of engineering and lifesaving on the West Coast of Canada, VodaSafe is committed to enabling search and rescue, emergency responders, public safety divers, law enforcement and lifeguards to execute faster, safer and more effective water rescue and victim recovery.
For further information, please contact:
Wylie Spencer – VodaSafe Marketing Manager
+ 1 604-781-5867
wylie@vodasafe.ca
Joerg Schwenk – Vogt-CTE
Phone: +41 33 223 72 12
Mobile: +41 79 671 19 48
info@vogt-cte.com
About Vogt-CTE: https://aquaeye-echolot.com/
About VodaSafe: https://vodasafe.ca/
About Beneath the Surface: https://www.facebook.com/BTSSearchAndRecovery/
Wylie Spencer
VodaSafe Inc.
+1 604-781-5867
email us here
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