Man jumped off bridge

Published 4 Sep 2010 12:30

A MAN in his 50s has been saved from sinking beneath the current of the fast flowing River Thames after jumping from a bridge.

Members of the public dialled 999 after seeing the fully clothed 55-year-old leap from Windsor and Eton Bridge into the bitterly cold water.

Nikki Barnes, a waitress at a nearby restaurant said: “I was working in the kitchen and when I came out a women in the restaurant said a man had been shouting and screaming and then he jumped in to the water. I saw people watching from the bridge. By this time there were firefighters, ambulance and police officers there. At first I couldn’t see him because he was by a bush, but then he swam out and grabbed on to a boat because he was caught in the current. ”

Windsor firefighters were at the scene at 3.42pm on Friday and found the man struggling in the water.

Two firefighters, from red watch, crew manager Matt Mansfield and Michael Rowley ran down the bank and managed to pull the man on to a barge.

Mr Mansfield said: “When we arrived a member of the public was pointing downstream and informed us he was by a barge.

“He was in the water and he was cold and weak. We pulled him from the water aided him up the barge and steps to sit on a bench where paramedics and police were in attendance.

“He was obviously weak and a little disorientated by it all. We don’t know how he ended up in the water.”

Police, who have interviewed the man, said he was only in the water for around 15 minutes before being rescued.

He was taken to Wexham Park Hospital as a precaution but released later that day and sent home.

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