A HEROIC Evesham man has been hailed for his ‘truly amazing act of bravery’ after he rescued a four-year-old girl from the River Avon.
Sara Wild paid tribute to the man, named on Facebook as Sy Threadingham, after the dramatic incident which took place in Crown Meadow on Monday (August 3).
The caring mum of three was spending the day in the park with her children when they met up with four-year-old Olivia Dolphin and her mum.
Ironically Olivia is best friends with Sara’s daughter who is also called Olivia and the little girls began to play together, under Sara’s watchful eye.
The drama began when Sara and the youngsters made their way back to Abbey Park to rejoin Olivia’s mum when little Olivia wanted to have a go on her friends bike.
The four-year-old cycled alongside the river when she lost control on the slipway next to the Abbey Bridge and plunged into the water.
“I honestly can’t say how it happened as it all happened so quickly,” Sara told the Observer.
“She wasn’t going fast so I can only think she looked down for a second, then not realising she had steered towards the slipway, she simply couldn’t stop.
“I fell over as I ran into the river and started panicking and screaming for help,” she said.
In a ‘split-second’, the brave passer by ran straight into the river to rescue the little girl and even returned to the water to recover the stricken bicycle.
“What was probably less than a minute felt like a life time” Sara said.
“He didn’t even think about anything, he just ran straight in and got her out.
“Whatever anybodies life stories are, when they put everything on hold and do an act of bravery like he did is truly amazing, thank you just doesn’t seem appreciative enough for what he did.
The experience didn’t appear to faze young Olivia too much though as Sara praised the ‘amazing brave girl’.
“She didn’t cry as the bike went in or even after the event. As I walked her back to her mum she just said with a calm voice I’m all wet,” she said.
Sara said she had sent a message to the rescuer but hadn’t yet heard anything back.
“I said thank you for what he did and again how I can’t thank him enough,” she said.
“I hope he has seen how much I appreciated his bravery.”
