A North Lincolnshire man was rescued after he fell down an embankment and into a river while mowing his lawn.
Pete Etchell, 61, from West Butterwick, was mowing his lawn last Wednesday when he fell 20ft down an embankment into the River Trent. His wife Cath alerted some nearby workmen who quickly sprang into action to save Pete.
Pete was struggling to swim with his clothes weighing him down and the water up to his neck. He fears that if the workmen hadn’t come when they did it may have been a very different outcome, reports the BBC.
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Pete said the pair jumped in “without any hesitation,” adding that the water was “up to his neck” and freezing cold. He attempted to climb back up, but the bank was too slippery to do so.
On top of that, Pete suffers from Dupuytren’s contracture, which affects a person’s ability to grip, making it impossible for him to haul himself out. While in the water, he managed to access his phone to ring wife Cath and tell her what had happened.
Without hesitation, she spoke to two workmen who were on their lunch break outside their house, asking for their help. The men, from broadband company Quickline, acted quickly and calmly to help rescue Pete in his time of need.
Mike Anscombe and Wes Naulls used rope from their van and tied it around Pete to help pull him out the water. With the help of Cath and a neighbour, the group managed to get him back to the grass verge.
Had the pair not acted when they did, Pete admits he could have been “carried away by the tide and died”. Rescuer Mike Anscombe is also unable to swim, but states that it didn’t stop him from jumping into action.
“I went into survival mode,” he said. “The water was high and fast-flowing and he was stuck in the sand – there was nowhere to get a foothold to climb out.”
He added: “He was in trouble, I didn’t think about not being able to swim and it’s a bit of a blur now, but I would have done it a thousand times. I did what anyone would do. But this was definitely a sign I need to finally do some swimming lessons and learn to swim.”
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe