Quick-thinking hero teen rescues angler

Published: July 16, 2008 | 7218th good news item since 2003

A QUICK-THINKING teenager has been hailed as a hero after hauling a pensioner out of perilous waters.

Sixteen-year-old Will Hughes was fishing with his grandfather at an angling pool near Worcester when an elderly fisherman fell in.

Will, a student at North Bromsgrove High School, quickly jumped in after the man and pulled him out. “The man went in backwards and only his head and hat was visible. He couldn’t get himself out because of the weight of his clothes,” said Will.

“I got a bit of an adrenalin rush, and my heart was thumping, but I just did what anyone else would have done.”

After the drama, which happened at the Newton Works waters in Hallow, the lucky man, 75-year-old Brian Waldron, from Charford, Bromsgrove, went home with his wife none the worse for wear.

A grateful Mr Waldron said: “If it hadn’t been for Will’s actions, it could have been a much different story. He jumped in beside me almost as quickly as I hit the water. There was no way I could have got out on my own.”

Mr Waldron said he has been ordered by his wife to fish by the shallow end in future. As a thank you, the couple presented Will with a £30 gift voucher and the Newton Works Angling Society awarded him free membership for a year. Will’s mum Cheryl said: “I am very proud of Will. Young people generally get a bad name, but this action shows that they are not all bad.”

Published in Kids & Teens
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