Dee-day for RNLI children's book about a little lifeboat which raised massive £17,000 for Portrush branch

Written by the lifeboat’s own medic Dr Martin O’Kane, ‘Dee the Little Lifeboat’ has not only raised a huge amount of money for the Portrush station but has also spread the RNLI’s water safety message to young readers all over the north coast – and all over the world.

Illustrated by Alice Rohdich, whose husband Damian is a decorated member of the Portrush RNLI crew, the book came about during lockdown when Martin realised that all fundraising has been curtailed and asked himself: “What can I do?”

The idea of Dee the Little Lifeboat was born and, having recruited Alice to bring the boat to life through her drawings, Martin then approached Judy Nelson, Jane Brown and Olivia O’Kane to help make the idea a reality.

The self-published book was launched on October 23, 2021, and to date has raised £17,370. Dr O’Kane thanked the local community for their support of Dee the Little Lifeboat saying he was ‘bowled over’. He also thanked Jackie McCallum for her generosity in providing Dee pens for sale and to Portrush Yacht Club who designed and painted a mural of Dee on the premises wall.

Portrush Lifeboat Operations Manager Beni McAllister said the crew was ‘absolutely astounded’ by the total raised and thanked everyone involved, especially Martin and Alice. Finally author Martin was able to confirm that, thanks to the success of Dee the Little Lifeboat, a second book is now in production.