Shropshire soldier hailed 'a hero' following river rescue
A soldier at home in Shropshire on leave is being hailed a life saver after keeping a woman afloat in the River Severn until further help arrived.
The emergency services were alerted to a woman in her 50s being in the river close to Washbrook Road in Bridgnorth at around 9.20pm last night.
A 56 year old man initially went into the water to try and help. He was joined shortly afterwards by a 22 year old soldier who was walking home at the time.
The soldier went into the water up to his shoulders and held the woman afloat until firefighters were able to bring them both to the shore.
In the meantime the other rescuer had been helped out of the water by his wife.
The woman was suffering from the effects of hypothermia and was semi-conscious. She was assessed at the scene before being taken to Princess Royal Hospital for further assessment and treatment.
The middle aged man refused treatment and was left at home. The soldier, who is based at Catterick Barracks in Yorkshire and serves with the Mercian Regiment was checked over at the scene but did not require hospital treatment.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “West Midlands Ambulance Service will be writing to the soldier’s commanding officer in recognition of his efforts to help a member of the public in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. The Service will also write to the other gentleman that went to help in recognition of his efforts too.”
