A man threatening to leap into the Thames from London Bridge last night inadvertently saved a stranger from drowning.
Lifeboat crew were called out around 11pm yesterday evening, and were stood down when police on the bridge talked down the distressed man.
1) 23:00 called to London Bridge to reports of a male in danger of entering the river. The male was detained by officers from @MPSSouthwark
— Tower RNLI (@TowerRNLI) March 13, 2014
But after being alerted by a passer-by pointing at the river, volunteers with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution spotted the head of a person bobbing in the water not far from the bridge.
2) 23:05 Whilst on scene at London Bridge the Lifeboat spots another male in the river. Rescued into the Lifeboat. #Lifesaved
— Tower RNLI (@TowerRNLI) March 13, 2014
“It was clearly a person underwater,†said Tower RNLI crew member Toni Scarr.
“We brought him aboard the lifeboat and found he was wearing a large duffel coat that had weighed him down.
“He was struggling to keep his face above the water. Although he seemed alert and spoke to the crew, he was apologetic and wasn’t sure who he was or how he came to be in the river.â€
Back at Tower lifeboat station, waiting ambulance crew found the man was suffering hypothermia, with a body temperature of 33.1C.
London Thames sunset panorama courtesy of Diliff, CC-BY-SA 3.0
