Anglers speak out about dramatic river rescue

Highland News & Media

Members of the Inverness Angling Club plucked a man in distress from the icy waters of the River Ness

Transcript

00:00 So if you just tell me what happened here in the river nest.

00:03 Yeah well we're all anglers and we were having a coffee at the local Isle Hutt.

00:09 I think two or three of us saw this figure coming floating down the river just at the

00:17 top of the artwork there with her hands and legs sort of waving about.

00:24 I think we all thought it was a wild swimmer but then as it got closer, I ran down and

00:33 we started shouting and bawling, no response.

00:36 Then we took action, Jane went into the water, I went in and we pulled him onto the bank.

00:42 Davey gave us a hand and pulled him right into the water.

00:45 And then from there on by good luck there was two nurses walking along, they came on

00:51 the scene and he didn't appear to be breathing when I took him out.

00:56 I'm ex-ambulance service myself.

00:59 But he had a pulse and they tried to rouse him.

01:06 He had a very, very thick jumper on him but he had a pulse and he didn't appear to be

01:12 breathing and after a minute or two, got him on his back and started to do it.

01:20 I checked.

01:23 You mentioned that you were quite lucky the way the man was taken because you were able

01:30 to pull him out.

01:31 He was too far out.

01:33 This particular pool was out on Quettus and then it was into five or six feet of water

01:40 and good luck from my point of view was that he was coming down just at the edge of that

01:46 self and I could get in without totally immersing myself and I got a hold of his shoulder and

01:52 the guys came down and gave a hand to get him out.

01:55 And then the nurses of course as you said.

01:57 There was a nurse that appeared and a doctor from the casualty ward were passing by and

02:02 they came down and gave us a hand.

02:04 But then we had a response out of him after a while.

02:08 He was responding to voice.

02:11 When you asked them can you hold a grip of the hand or something, you would grip your

02:16 hand and he seemed to be getting very, very cold at this time.

02:20 So the guys all took off their jackets and covered him with their jackets and then the

02:27 medical ambulance arrived and we handed him over to them.

02:31 You would have been very lucky that you were here given the temperature of the water at

02:34 this time of year.

02:35 I'm lucky to do it and it's all saying that's it for today.

02:39 Yeah, we'd have been away if it were five minutes later.

02:42 Oh, he'd have been gone.

02:43 How long he was in the water, whether he went in or nothing.

02:46 It's a very busy area this, with people walking up and down the islands and back to the city

02:52 centre.

02:53 No one's come in and about saying, oh we saw someone going into the river, so it looks

02:59 as though whatever happened wasn't witnessed.

03:02 But it's amazing how people never noticed him actually going in.

03:07 He was lucky, thanks to you all.

03:09 Absolutely.

03:10 There was a few people going around, but it was quite busy along there and no one seemed

03:14 to have gone.

03:15 I quite often see things, people swimming in the river and you're like, oh look at that

03:19 fool in the river.

03:20 But he wasn't a fool, it was a genuine.

03:23 So we're all hoping that he gets through this and makes a full recovery.

03:28 Mm-hmm.

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