Man pulls unresponsive woman from freezing river who was floating ‘like a mannequin’
A dog walker jumped into a freezing flooded river to save an unresponsive woman he spotted floating ‘like a mannequin’.
Colin McGarva was walking along the River Severn in Worcester with his German Shepherd, Cuma when he saw the woman in the water.
The 31-year-old father said he thought it was a mannequin at first then realised it was actually a person.
Despite the water being extremely cold and fast-flowing, he decided to jump in to save her.
Using a safety ring he managed to reach the woman, who was around 50, and bring her back to land.
The incident happened on Monday near Sabrina Bridge on Hylton Road, after the River Severn burst its banks during Storm Henk.
Mr McGarva, a lettings agent from Worcester, said he initially thought the woman was dead.
‘I was shouting ‘hello!’ But there was no response. I saw her move slightly. Her eyes opened.
‘That’s when I realised ‘She’s not dead’. I looked around but nobody was around. I tried to flag down a car. It didn’t stop.
‘The water was freezing. I just had to do it. There was no second thought. I am absolutely fine though I’m getting a bit emotional talking about it now.’
‘I just grabbed her and dragged her to the side. I had the ring in my left arm and I grabbed her with my right and pulled her towards the ring.’
He said he asked a bystander to hold his dog so he could rescue the woman and she urged him not to go in because of the risks.
But he said he felt compelled to help the woman.
Afterwards he returned home to his partner and 11-month old son to explain how he’d started the new year.
He added: ‘It was a bit of a shocking start to 2024.’
A spokesperson for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said a boat crew and a fire engine attended the scene but the woman was already out of the water by the time they arrived.
It’s understood she was taken to hospital, but her condition is not known.
Mr McGarva didn’t find out her name but hopes to be reunited with her once she’s recovered.
More than 300 flood warnings are in place in the UK after heavy rain and strong winds during Storm Henk battered many parts of the country.
In London a woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries after she was crushed by a falling tree and residents were urged to stay indoors.
There was also major rail disruption across southern England as fallen trees and debris blocked tracks.
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