The Sun - February, 2010
RIVERMAN George Parsonage remembers when death almost claimed him, a little boy and his mum, on a chilly day in 1971.
George, 71, who has been rescuing drowning souls from the River Clyde for the past five decades as part of Glasgow Humane Society, still can’t explain what happened.
He said: “I was 28 and out on my racing boat when I decided to turn off the route down river, that I told me dad I’d be taking.
“It was just past Rutherglen Bridge when I heard a commotion in the water and raced across to see a drowning woman who couldn’t swim.
“She’d jumped in after her son had climbed along an overhead tree branch which broke and plunged him into the river.
“There was no sign of the boy and the woman couldn’t swim.
“The water was icy and in her panic she was punching and wrestling me away.
“I left her and dived below the water trying to find this wee boy.
“It was freezing and inky black, and as I got deeper and deeper, the strangest feeling came over me.
“I was so calm, I could hear bells and the sweetest softest music.
“It was absolute serenity - the most wonderful feeling.
“Somehow the boy was then in my arms, and I got him to the surface along with his mum.
“The three of us survived, whereas at one point I did think that my time had probably come.
“I’ve never forgotten that, and I’ve never felt anything like it since.
“I’ve only spoken about it to a couple of people, but maybe that day I was led by angels, because I don’t know how the child ended up in my arms.
“That experience changed me. At that time all I wanted to do was become a champion rower and win all the races.
“But I began to wonder if God had made me a good rower for other reasons - like rescuing souls in the water.
“Maybe that’s what he meant for me.”