Do not jump into the river!

No matter how hot it is, how drunk you are, or how relieved you are to have finished A level exams / the week’s work / writing your first novel, the RNLI says jumping into the river is a really bad idea. Last year Chiswick RNLI crews recovered a man who was critically injured when he jumped into the river in Putney, not realising that the water was only a couple of feet deep. RNLI Helmsman Mark Turrell describes what happened when he saw a group of lads obviously contempating the same thing at Chiswick Pier. Mark was on shift on the evening of Saturday 25 May when he saw a group of teenagers gathering around the iron steps on the embankment.

‘As I watched, a lad in just sports shorts emerged up the steps soaking wet and had obviously jumped into the river from the top of the steps. He was gesticulating to his mates that he was going to jump in again so I donned my life-jacket and took my crash helmet, in case we got a service call, and went down to the group. I spoke to the whole group explaining the dangers of what they were undertaking and the amount of young people I have dealt with over my time on the Thames lifeboats that had not been lucky enough to resurface after such high jinx. To my surprise, the whole group were very engaging and apologetic and after a few minutes of listening to me the one that appeared to be the leader shook my hand and the whole group thanked me for my time and went on their way.’

RNLI Community Safety Officer John Soones says ‘The summer period with the end of exams coming up is often a time when teenagers let off steam and are tempted to go in the river, not knowing the dangers. This example shows what authority RNLI lifeboat crew members can have in what one might expect to be an awkward encounter.’

Chiswick RNLI lifeboat station is the second busiest in the UK and Ireland. Since The RNLI search and rescue service on the Thames started in 2002, Chiswick Lifeboat has attended over 3,500 incidents and rescued over 1,750 people, and dozens of dogs. The RNLI is entirely funded by public donations.