Dramatic footage of RNLI rescuing man clinging to Thames pier amid warnings not to swim in the river in heatwave

Chloe Chaplain6 July 2018

A dramatic video filmed from a lifeboat on the Thames shows the moment a man minutes from drowning was rescued from underneath a pier.

Rescue teams found the man desperately clinging to a wooden pier to prevent himself being swept away by the Thames which was in full flood at the time.

There was no way of reaching the man in his precarious position via boat so the team were forced to take the drastic step of sending crew members into the water to help him.

The video was shared by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution crew, based near Waterloo Bridge, who said they were called to the incident just before 2pm on Sunday.

Trapped: The man was clinging to a post underneat the pier
RNLI

The man was found trapped under a circular wooden pier at Shadwell Basin, Wapping, and was “in imminent danger of drowning”.

“London Marine Police were already on the scene, but since he was within the pier, neither the lifeboat or police boat were able to get close enough to rescue him,” a statement said.

“At the time the tide was in full flood, with significant rise and fall and tidal wash.”

Rescue: The crew worked together to get to the man and guide him out of the water

Steve King, who led the rescue attempt, had to take the “highly unusual decision” to put a dry suit on and jump into the river to rescue the man, who was “clearly tiring and scared”.

The video shows him jumping into the river and swimming against the tide to reach the stranded man and throw him a safety line and life jacket.

The man, paralysed with shock and clinging to the post, took some convincing to let go before he allowed Mr King to guide him out of the pier.

Saved: the team then pulled him out of the water onto the boat before he was treated by LAS paramedics
RNLI

He was taken into the boat and had his health assessed. The man, conscious but cold and in shock, was at risk from hypothermia and was given oxygen and warmed up. LAS were on hand at Wapping Police Pier to care for the man.

“It’s very rare that we go into the water, it’s a last resort,” Mr King said. “We couldn’t get a boat in there, no-one else could get in so we had to go in. I didn’t know what was in there and I wasn’t able to touch the bottom.

“This call demonstrates the core principles of being an RNLI volunteer – Selflessness, determination and teamwork to save life,’ said Tower helm Steve King.

"This gentleman would not have survived due to his location and clinical state had the lifeboat crew not have acted in the swift manor they had done so.”

The incident came amid several fatalities due to people swimming in lakes and rivers during the heatwave.

Warnings have been issued to people to avoid the temptation to swim in unsupervised waters and safety advice has been given to those who find themselves in trouble.

To read the RNLI safety advice, click here.

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