The Story So Far Hero Squad

These wannabe heroes are working together to perform daring rescues.

Over the toughest terrain...

Experiencing the highs...

..and the lows.

There's a new emergency crew in town.

Now, there's one final challenge to face.

An ultimate rescue,

the biggest challenge any Hero Squad cadet has ever had to face.

Six ordinary school kids.

Their mission - to learn how to save lives.

But do they have what it takes to become real-life heroes?

Last time, the cadets crewed up a £2.5 million RNLI lifeboat...

..rescuing an injured Hero Squad Casualty trapped by the tide.

Now pull it towards you and get ready to throw it, OK?

Josh!

There were clashes.

But Kyra drove the team to a strong rescue,

sharing Hero of the Day with keen sailor Sam!

This time, we've brought the Hero Squad to Cornwall.

Near the most southern tip of mainland Britain.

The scene of one final challenge.

A rescue so complex, it brings together not ONE, not TWO,

but THREE emergency and rescue services.

Land.

Sea.

And air.

Everything they've done until now has been leading to this moment.

The Hero Squad ULTIMATE rescue.

The only thing is, no-one's told the cadets.

-Cadets, good morning!

-ALL: Morning.

-How is everyone?

-ALL: Good.

Are you all raring to go?

-ALL: Yeah.

-Excited?

-ALL: Yeah.

-Well, that's good.

Because I've got something really, really special in store.

We're going to split you up...

into three groups of two.

The next time you see each other

is going to be during the rescue.

CHUCKLING

I was shocked when we were told that we were going to be splitting

up into three groups of two, because we haven't been split up before

and I think it's going to affect us.

I think it will be hard at first being split up from everyone

because we've been together so long.

I think it's a bit sad to be split up but as long as we, in the rescue

we actually work together, I think we'll do really well.

Until now, the cadets have tackled

every Hero Squad challenge together...

ALL: Lift!

..working as a team.

-Josh, are you ready?

-Ready!

Helping each other when it gets tough.

That's it, Kyra.

Yeah, I've done it, Kyra, if I can do it you can,

and you're doing very well.

Well done!

It's been a long journey together,

but now for the first time these six courageous cadets are parting ways.

They won't see each other again until the final rescue.

And they'll have no idea what the others are up to.

Lily and Myles will be hitting the waves,

returning to the RNLI to crew up an all-weather lifeboat.

Maria and Josh will be tied up with Her Majesty's Coastguard,

training to be a rope rescue team.

And Sam and Kyra will be taking to the skies with the Royal Navy

Search and Rescue service.

Kyra and Sam, you're with me today.

So I've asked your mentor to meet you right here in this field.

And I think I can see him coming.

MUSIC: "Ride Of The Valkyries" by Richard Wagner

RAV WHOOPS

You didn't expect that, did you?!

Hello Cadets, I'm Petty Officer Gaz Kneeshaw

and I'm going to be your mentor.

Petty Officer Gaz Kneeshaw has been in the Royal Navy

for over ten years,

but he's much more at home in a helicopter than he is on a ship.

That's because he's a member of the 771 Naval Air Squadron

at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall.

Their famous red and grey Sea King Helicopters are called out

over 200 times a year to assist everything from sailors

stranded at sea to wounded walkers in need of urgent medical attention.

There's no such thing as an average day in this job.

We're here to help people and save people's lives.

What could be better than that?

Today, for the first time ever,

Gaz will be letting two 12-year-olds join his team.

Looking good, guys, looking good.

-Can you hear me?

-Just, can you hear me?

Yeah, just about.

And now it's time to check out Gaz's preferred method of transport,

the Sea King Mk5 helicopter.

-It's quite an impressive bit of kit, isn't it?

-It's amazing.

-Yeah.

Yeah, it's massive, though, and quite noisy.

Shall we have a look inside? BOTH: Yeah!

-Wow.

-Whoa.

Look at all the buttons!

Yeah, there's quite a lot to think about, isn't there?

So which seat out of the two seats is the pilot seat?

You can fly these aircraft from either seat, and quite often

control of the aircraft is passed over from one seat to another.

The Sea King can fly with this side door wide open

and it's from this position that winchmen like mentor Gaz

can be lowered down to rescue people.

I can go on the wire and I can bring somebody back up with me,

whether it be in a stretcher or just in a strop or anything like that.

I would love to have the opportunity to fly in one of these,

I think it would be a really good experience.

Being in the Sea King was amazing.

It was really, really cool and there were so many buttons that

I don't know how you would be able to work out what they all do.

Come on Sam, the Hero Squad MUST be able to master

all kinds of essential rescue kit...

no matter how hard it might look!

Throughout their journey,

the Hero Squad have had their hands on everything from fire engines

to power tools and all-terrain rescue trucks.

And when a builder fell from scaffolding in London, there was

only one way to reach him fast.

The helicopter ride was absolutely amazing,

it's got to be one of the most best experiences of my life.

If you thought THAT was impressive - what about THESE?!

Bay Search and Rescue's six and a half tonne all-terrain vehicles.

Used to reach people trapped in deadly quicksand at Morecombe Bay.

Wow, a 12-year-old driving a six-tonne vehicle!

And that wasn't the only high-powered piece of kit

the cadets got to use.

Remember this £2.5 million lifeboat?

Well, when a casualty was injured and cut off by the tide...

the Hero Squad crewed up

Campbeltown's RNLI all-weather lifeboat to save her.

Now two of them will be using their RNLI experience,

for one last mission.

And Myles and Lily are about to get their hands

on an even MORE technologically advanced RNLI lifeboat.

Based at the bottom of a 45m-high cliff,

down more than 200 steep steps...

BOTH: Oh, wow.

THIS is the £2.7 million Tamar Class all-weather lifeboat,

one of the most advanced lifeboats in the RNLI'S all-weather fleet.

Now, they just need someone to show them how to use it.

Hello, cadets. My name's Andrew Putt

and I'm the coxswain of the Lizard lifeboat and I'm your mentor.

Coxswain Andrew Putt is in charge of

the Lizard's RNLI all-weather lifeboat.

Like all RNLI volunteers,

his team are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In the last five years they have rescued 74 people.

It's very important they listen to what's going on.

And do as they're told.

Myles and Lily will be using Lizard's lifeboat

in the Ultimate Hero Squad - Final Rescue.

So they need to know their way round the hi-tech controls.

So, Lily, if you'd like to go in that seat.

Myles, you sit in that one.

While Myles and Lily get comfortable,

mentor Andrew decides to check their radio knowledge.

To use the radio you have to push that red button there.

He's giving them a refresher course

in vital radio comms during a rescue.

So if you would like to call the Coastguard just say

"Coastguard, Coastguard, Coastguard, this the Lizard Lifeboat,

"the Lizard lifeboat."

Coastguard, Coastguard, Coastguard...

Communicating well as a team will be

all-important on the final rescue.

Something the Hero Squad hasn't always found easy!

During Rubble Rescue, there was so much arguing this lot sounded

more like a RABBLE than an Urban Search and Rescue team.

Put that down somewhere and help me get this one across.

No, we need the drill to see if we can see anything first.

We've got the drill, it's coming.

Sam, you're in charge so can you tell us what we're doing?

Just listen to me.

The bickering and confusion cost them valuable time,

putting the casualty at risk.

Mentor John McKay was forced to step in.

Just wait. There's far too many people giving it that.

OK. Sam's in charge.

Sam is the man who you need to listen to.

The Hero Squad had to learn to listen.

And by the time they reached their penultimate rescue,

they were working as a team again.

-Are you ready?

-Josh, Sam, are you ready?

Ready!

Communicating clearly as they launched RNLI Campbeltown's Y boat.

Y Boat deployed!

Well done, you guys.

And rescued the Hero Squad casualty.

And THIS will be like no other lifeboat launch

they've ever experienced.

That's a big door.

The Lizard lifeboat weighs 32 tonnes.

It's going to be Myles and Lily's job to safely release it,

down a steep slipway into the sea.

How fast does it go?

We'll be doing about 15, 16mph.

Going down this one slide?!

-Going downhill.

-OK.

Start her up now, then.

There you go, that's it. Now just push that one.

Oh, wow, this is amazing.

That was...

It was really cool cos when we went down it was like a rollercoaster

and I really enjoyed it, especially when we hit the sea.

They did very well. Very well indeed.

Looks like today's training is attracting some attention

from some basking sharks.

MUSIC: "Jaws Theme" by John Williams

-Oh, my God!

-Basking shark there, look. See his fin?

Let's hope he's not around on rescue day,

because there'll be no time for any distractions.

Fancy taking part in daring rescue at the touch of a button?

Head to the CBBC website and play the Hero Squad game.

Today is all about preparing for one final challenge.

Rescuing a bodyboarder who gets into serious trouble at sea.

A surfer tries to save him.

And although he gets him to the beach, the Hero Squad Casualty

is freezing cold and in urgent need of medical attention.

The bad news keeps coming.

It's now become a double rescue as both Hero Squad Casualties

are stranded with steep cliffs one side, sea on the other.

Can the Hero Squad save them

in the ultimate LAND, SEA and AIR rescue?

There's just a few hours left for training.

So excited!

Unknown to Myles and Lily, our final pair of cadets, Josh and Maria,

are just a few miles further along the Cornish coastline.

SIRENS WAIL

BOTH: Sirens!

They don't know it yet,

but they are about to meet one of Hero Squad's TOUGHEST mentors.

LAUGHTER

Good, morning cadets! BOTH: Morning.

My name's Pete Pritchard and today I'm going to be your mentor.

Ex Royal Marine Pete Pritchard

has been with Her Majesty's Coastguard for more than 20 years.

He runs FIVE emergency rescue teams.

I will not tolerate people who are not treating it seriously.

There's a time and a place for fun, there's a time and a place for work.

Pete's no stranger to Hero Squad.

He made a BIG impression on last year's cadets!

CRUNCHING

What's the matter, guys?

I just heard a little click in my knuckles!

I can't feel like all this bit of my hand.

It's just gone numb.

CRUNCHING

Pete's handshakes are very strong and when he handshaked me and Josh

it was really like rrrrrgghhh!

But I guess that's Pete!

I think Pete is a really good mentor.

But I think he's really strict

and I think he wants things done properly without any messing.

Come on, then, let's go.

Their task will be to set up an anchor point

for a Coastguard rope rescue - a double stake holdfast.

New to Josh and Maria but not to last year's cadets,

whose secure anchor point survived the full force of a rugby scrum!

This time there'll be a whole Coastguard rescue team to test it.

-Wow, it is quite heavy.

-Yeah.

Josh's hammer weighs around 7kg.

Half the weight of the ones adult coastguards use.

My arms are aching.

Josh needs to concentrate and make sure he hits his mark,

or he could easily injure himself.

You can't have people wielding these things willy-nilly,

because that's how accidents can occur.

OK, and stop there. Let's give Maria a go.

OK, Josh, get the lashing line.

My arms are killing.

-That's it, give it some welly.

-Well done, Maria, that's great.

-Oh!

-That's it, OK.

Once both stakes are secure, they need to be lashed together.

Round the front.

That's it, now pull it in tight.

The lashing line must be pulled as tightly as possible,

so all the stretch is removed.

That's it.

-Well done, Josh.

-Lovely job.

Time to put Josh and Maria's anchor point to the test!

GUYS!

In a real rescue, a hold fast would normally only need to

take the weight of two people...

Take the strain.

..the rope technician and the casualty.

-So far so good.

-Yep.

But the cadets are testing theirs on EIGHT!

Take up the slack.

Take the strain, and pull.

OK, look back.

-Hold fast, is it moving?

-No.

Nothing. OK, and relax.

Maria and Josh have proved they've got the stamina

for a tough Coastguard rope rescue.

It's not the first time the cadets

have faced a physically exhausting task on Hero Squad.

Throughout their Hero Squad journey the cadets

have faced exhausting challenges many adults would struggle with.

In their first mission, they had to brave sub-zero temperatures

to rescue an injured skier on a mountain slope.

Myles took the strain of the ski sledge AND the casualty -

almost TWICE his body weight.

The next time the cadets were up a mountain, the only way to

reach the casualty was on foot.

A climber was badly injured and Sam and Maria

had the exhausting job of guiding her down to safety.

Ready!

GROANING

That was heavy.

I've learnt that the role of the mountain rescuer

takes a lot of commitment. And you have to have courage.

Sometimes you might not like the stuff you do,

but you have to pull through it and be brave.

And it wasn't just the rescues that were challenging.

Fire fighters wear heavy, bulky breathing apparatus

to protect them in smoke-filled buildings.

-Oh, no, that's scaring me.

-Are you all right, Josh?

But Josh couldn't take the heat of the BA kit.

-I'm taking this up.

-When I'm in small spaces

I feel like I'm going to suffocate.

The plan is, I'm going to take a couple of minutes

and then I'm going to go back in.

The Hero Squad cadets have demonstrated bravery,

courage and determination in every challenge.

They are going to need all of this and more,

in the ultimate Hero Squad rescue.

Back at the airbase in Culdrose, Kyra's with Sam,

training with the 771 Navy Search & Rescue Squadron.

Their fleet of distinctive Sea King helicopters are used to

rescue people from the most inhospitable of places.

But when there's nowhere to land, there's only one way to reach

the casualty. By winching out of a flying helicopter!

Hanging from a helicopter on a 6mm-thick metal wire

is not something for the faint-hearted.

But it could be a skill that Kyra and Sam need to know for

their final rescue so it's off to the classroom for a potentially

life-saving lesson from mentor Gaz Kneeshaw.

It comes down, pull it nice and tight.

OK, then I'll get permission to winch the survivor outside

or the person to transfer.

I hope Kyra and Sam are paying attention

because what they don't know is they're about to be winched

out of a Sea King Helicopter for real!

Time to break the news.

-Sam, Kyra, how's it going?

-Hi, Rav.

-Yeah, going really well.

-Feel confident?

-Yep.

-Well, Gaz, I think it's about time we, er, put this to the test

-and winched them out of a Sea King for real.

-Yeah.

SHE CHUCKLES

Come on, then. Follow me, let's go.

This is a huge moment for Sam and Kyra.

Not only is it the first time that either of them

will have flown in a helicopter, but they're actually going to be

lowered out of it whilst it's flying.

All clear. Thumbs up.

Can't wait.

-It's going to be so exciting

-Yeah, it's going to be amazing.

Go for it!

There you go, that's 3,000 horsepower lifting you in the air.

This is so cool.

PILOT CHATTER OVER RADIO

PILOT: We'll go as close to the edge of the tarmac as we can.

Are you looking forward to it?

-Yeah, it's going to be great, you looking forward to it?

-Yeah.

Mentor Gaz had been in the Navy for five years

before he got to do this and now Kyra and Sam

are about to do it on their very first day of training.

This is it. The moment of truth.

But has 12-year-old Sam got what it takes?

Got Sam in the single strop.

Permission to put him overboard. Permission to get Sam out the door.

Gaz gets clearance from the pilot, and Sam's away.

OK. Lowering the winch.

He's now hanging on a 6mm cable out of the Sea King.

His life is in the hands of the helicopter crew.

Nice one, Sam!

Well done. That was so high!

Wow. Was it good?

-Yeah, it was awesome.

-Excellent.

Next up - Kyra.

OK, Kyra, you ready?

At 1.7m, Kyra's the tallest of all the cadets,

but this 12-year-old struggles with a fear of heights.

And during mountain rescue training, it almost got the better of her.

I think the hardest thing for me must have been overcoming

my fear of heights, especially when it came to mountain rescue.

It was really nerve-racking for me.

But now she's got one more chance to beat it for good.

Permission to put Kyra overboard. PILOT: OK, clear.

Roger, got the affirmative,

raising the winch. Winch has got the weight.

Lowering the winch.

Brilliant bravery from Kyra!

She's on the deck.

Whoa, that was amazing!

-That was so much fun!

-Was it good?

-Yeah.

-Cos it looked really high up.

-Yeah, it looked really high up!

That's because it was! Well done.

I think my fear of heights has finally gone away

and is never going to come back to trouble me again.

The cadets have had an incredible day of training

with three emergency and rescue services.

The transformation from cadets

to RNLI, Coastguard and Royal Navy rescuers is almost complete.

Sam and Kyra took to the skies on board a Navy Sea King helicopter.

That was so much fun, it was epic,

and it's the best experience I've had in my life.

I've had some amazing experiences on Hero Squad, and...

but this has definitely been the best training day.

How many 12 to 13-year-olds get to jump out of a flying helicopter?

Myles and Lily launched RNLI Lizard's all-weather lifeboat

with a splash.

It was amazing and I loved it.

I'm really excited, really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the mission.

And Josh and Maria proved they've got the strength to anchor

a Coastguard rope rescue.

I really like working with the Coastguards,

because their work involves lots of responsibility.

I'm feeling nervous about the last big challenge on Hero Squad

but I think it's going to be great.

Next time...

the cadets must put their training to use, when a Hero Squad casualty

gets into serious trouble off the coast of Cornwall.

What starts out as a simple sea rescue

quickly escalates into a land, air and sea rescue.

Can they prove they have what it takes

to become real-life heroes?

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd