In the early hours of the morning, a man clung on for dear life, shivering in the near-freezing, fast-flowing river. Would rescuers be able to reach him in time? Rory Stamp reports

It was 10 January 2009 and a man was seen jumping from Waterloo bridge in Inverness into the churning river below. The Police alerted the Coastguard, the Kessock lifeboat was requested to launch, and Lifeboat Operations Manager Gary Friedman paged the volunteers at 2.23am. Knowing that the casualty was in fast-flowing water, he also asked lifeboatmen Donnie and Stan MacRae to take the station’s 4x4. ‘They’re part of the RNLI’s Flood Rescue team’ explains Gary, ‘trained to carry out rescues in swift water using special equipment.’ (A typical training scenario is pictured above.)

When the volunteers arrived on scene, they found that the man had managed to grab hold of a railway bridge buttress someway downstream. He was in great danger of being swept on again and obviously needed urgent help, but it looked unlikely that the Atlantic lifeboat would be able to approach him safely – the water was shallow and the bridge was only 1m away from a weir. Donnie and Stan decided the only way to reach him was indeed to put their swift-water training to use and enter the water themselves.

At the river’s edge, the two lifeboatmen secured themselves to safety lines that were tended by a Coastguard Rescue team, before wading into the river. ‘We had to approach the casualty from upstream because the water was moving past us so quickly,’ recalls Donnie. ‘Our aim was to come through the quicker-flowing water into the shallows behind him, grab him and get back to shore.’

Chest high in water, the pair battled the 4–6-knot flow and headed towards the centre of the river, where it was less deep and powerful. But they still faced a tricky journey before they could reach the man: the river bed was made up of large, round, slippery rocks. It was a slow and exhausting process.

By the time the two rescuers reached the casualty, he’d been in the water for 30 minutes. As they approached, Donnie and Stan shouted to the man. Although he lifted his head in response, he was clearly close to losing consciousness – and his grip. The lifeboatmen both took a firm hold of him and made for the shore, keeping his head and shoulders clear of the water.

Suddenly, though, they lost their footing and all three were submerged and swept towards the weir. But the safety lines did their job, holding them back from going any further, and somehow they had managed to keep hold of the casualty. They swam through the deep water beneath the weir, towing the man with them.

Two policemen helped the pair carry the man over boulders and to the nearby road, where an ambulance was waiting. By now, the casualty was clearly suffering from severe hypothermia. While the lifeboat volunteers returned to station, the man was taken to Raigmore hospital for treatment – where he eventually made a full recovery.

In Letters of Appreciation to the MacRaes, RNLI Chief Executive Andrew Freemantle wrote: ‘You both demonstrated excellent professional skill, teamwork and good decision-making to save this man’s life. Well done indeed!’