Drowning woman is rescued by students as police look on
Noted from Glasgow Herald
10 May 2010
Three students hailed as heroes after saving a drowning woman have said they went into action because no-one else – including police – was helping.
Graham McGrath, Rosie Lucey and Reece Black, who are all 18, were walking along the Clyde towards Glasgow Green around 1.30pm on Saturday for the Clydesdale ARC Regatta, which includes the Edinburgh versus Glasgow University Boat Race.
They spotted the woman in trouble in the water near Albert Bridge.
Frustrated by the lack of action being taken, the first-year Glasgow University students made a split-second decision to help.
Earth sciences student Mr McGrath, who is from Bearsden but lives in university halls in Maryhill, said: “There was a woman in water shouting for help. There was somebody throwing the lifebelts to her but she couldn’t get to them.
“The police were holding people back from the edge of the bridge. Then it became apparent nobody was doing anything. She was getting lower and lower in the water. So at that point I started running across to the other side of the bridge because I spotted a pontoon close to her.”
After scaling two fences to access the river bank, Mr McGrath dived in.
By this time, he says, the woman was unconscious. He managed to drag her back to the pontoon with the help of his flatmate Ms Lucey, who had followed him into the water.
Mr Black, from Dalgety Bay near Fife, remained on the pontoon and dragged all three of them out of the water.
Ms Lucey, originally from Kinross, then carried out CPR on the woman, who has not been identified. She learned the skill at high school and her mother is a nurse.
The maths student said: “It wasn’t the best but it worked. When she started going underwater we realised we were watching someone drown.”
Mr Black, who is studying earth sciences and chemistry, said: “She was gone. She’d been under the water for two minutes. Her lips were blue and her tongue was white. She was frothing at the mouth.
“We couldn’t find a pulse anywhere but we kept on going. She eventually started gurgling and a lot of water came out her mouth.
“I’m still shaken up. We were told she would have almost definitely died but we gave her a 50/50 chance.”
Police, fire and ambulance services later arrived and the woman was taken to the Victoria Infirmary.
The students were also checked out in hospital and they have been praised by the university.
A spokesman said: “We are very proud of these students and their quick-thinking, decisive and selfless actions.”
George Parsonage of Glasgow Humane Society described the efforts of the students as “wonderful”.
The 66-year old, who has rescued more than 1,500 people from the river, was called out to the woman at 1.43pm along with colleague Tony Coia, 27. He said that although the trio put themselves at risk, they deserved the highest praise. He said: “It was heroic. It really was remarkable for three youngsters to do that. I thought it was wonderful.”
Mr Parsonage was criticised by authorities for helping save a woman from the Clyde last month. Strathclyde Fire and Rescue claimed he himself had to be rescued – but he insisted he would have been able to get out on his own.
A police spokeswoman said: “A 37-year old woman jumped into the Clyde and was rescued by a member of the public prior to the arrival of the emergency services.
“As a matter of procedure it’s not the responsibility of the police to go in the water, it’s the Fire and Rescue service.”