Good Samaritan jumps into River Thames to save stranger

A Good Samaritan is being hailed a hero for jumping into the River Thames to save a stranger's life.

Early morning Monday morning, Ben Corr, 36, was on his way to work when he was flagged down by a distressed woman near Charing Cross rail bridge. The woman, who was clinging to a life ring, pointed out a man whom she believed had intentionally jumped into the river.

According to a Lifeboats News Release, the man was drifting "dangerously close" to the base of the London Eye.

The woman wanted help throwing the ring out to the drowning man. Corr tried to toss the man the ring, but "he was quite far out and the ring missed him."

"Despite our efforts to coerce him towards it, he was just flailing in the water," Corr told the Evening Standard. "At first I held back because I know the emergency services always advise the public not to enter the water in times like that, in case they get into danger as well. But after a moment I decided I had to – so I climbed down onto the foreshore, entered the river, and swam across to him."

The man initially resisted Corr's attempts to help, but eventually took the life ring. Corr dragged him to the south bank wall, but couldn't get them out of the water.

Fortunately, the woman had called police. Moments later, a lifeboat crew arrived and took the two men to a nearby RNLI lifeboat station where London Ambulance Service treated them.

According to the news release, the man who had jumped from the bridge was "cold and shaken and still distressed" and was taken to the hospital for further treatment.

When Corr was asked if he was scared to enter the water, he replied:

"Not really. I was only afterwards that they told me it was actually dangerous. There is all sorts of machinery [near the London Eye] which we could have got caught up in. I am not a very strong swimmer. But it looked like he really was going to go under. You cannot watch someone drown."

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Lifeboat helmsman Craig Burn praised Corr for saving the man's life — even if what he did was very dangerous and not recommended by safety officials:

"Ben is right that we don’t advise people to go into the water to help people, but he assessed the situation and made a measured, very brave decision to go in. What he did was hugely commendable and we take our hat – or helmet – off to him: there is one man out there today in London who would surely have lost his life if it hadn’t been for Ben and the lifeboat crew."