Quick-thinking under pressure from three 10-year-old Teesdale schoolchildren prevented a potential drowning.
Year 5 pupils Maddison Glendinning, Kaydee Lawton and Olivia Wherry, who attend Green Lane Primary, in Barnard Castle, were playing near the Bandstand at Flatts Wood when they saw a woman preparing to go into the River Tees.
Before long, they realised the swimmer was in trouble and needing help so they immediately called 999. Maddison, speaking for the trio, explained to the Mercury what happened that evening.
She said: “There are normally ducks swimming in that part of the river so we went to see if there were any and that’s when we heard a lady who was in the water.
“We went for a closer look and, at first, we thought she had gone in for a swim because it was a hot day.
“We then went up on to the Silver Bridge just to see if she was okay. We started to walk back to where we were before and the next thing we know we heard screaming for help.
“Some boys had been on the bridge and they ran to get a rescue ring (life-preserver) while we could hear the lady screaming: ‘Help, I can’t swim’ and ‘I can’t get out’.
“I said ‘I’m calling the police’.”
Kaydee, who admitted it was a “scary” situation, took up the story, adding: “I told the lady to hold onto the rocks until help came.
“Two police officers quickly arrived and we showed them where to go. They ran into the water, threw the life ring and the lady got into it and they helped her out.”
Olivia added: “If we weren’t there then we don’t know what would have happened?”
The police confirmed that a woman in her early 60s was rescued from the river and taken to hospital in an ambulance. She was released following treatment.
Green Lane headteacher Rob Goffee said he was proud of Maddison, Kaydee and Olivia, who all live in Barnard Castle, for showing such bravery and maturity under intense pressure.
“I think it’s amazing,” I was really proud when I heard about what had happened from Kaydee’s mum,” he said.
“Each of them has received our special Green Lane medal for showing core Christian values.
“We have our values in school about showing respect and caring for people. You want to see that in school but to hear about them showing those values outside of school makes me feel really, really proud.
“To save someone’s life is such a special thing for the girls to have done,” he added.
“I think it’s an important message for all young people that if they see something that is not right then do something about it, take some action, don’t walk away.
“They did really well, they kept so calm under massive pressure, the panic of ‘what should we do?’ And Maddison was right to say, ‘I’m going to call the police, I’m going to do it’, and that’s not only a brave decision to make but the right thing to do.”
