A Perth plumber has spoken of how he courageously risked his life to save a woman stranded in the Tay during Storm Isha.
Stewart Miller, 51, was doing his usual nightly walk in Rodney Gardens, near Queen’s Bridge, when his three-year-old retriever Troy began barking in the direction of River Tay.
While walking the 100-metre distance down to the embankment he heard some shouting.
“I thought it was a baby sheep screaming,” Stewart said.
It was actually a woman in her 40s clinging onto a tree in the water.
“It was really slippy and the wind was terrible, so I couldn’t believe it when I saw her,” he recalled.
River Tay rescue during Storm Isha
The incident took place just after 7pm on Sunday – as Storm Isha was bringing heavy rain and gale-force winds to Tayside.
“The woman was clearly in distress,” Stewart said.
“She was panicking and looked like she was going under.
“So I ran back to my van to grab some ropes.”
He phoned the police, who said they would be on their way.
“They told me not to go in the water and put myself at risk,” Stewart said.
“But I said that I had to go into the water because she was going to drown.”
Perth plumber jumps in water to save woman
Once he returned to the Tay, Stewart realised that his rope would be useless as the woman was unable to remove her hands from the tree.
“So I just had to swim out to her,” he said.
“Unfortunately, she was like a deadweight and I did think for a second this wasn’t a good idea.
“I managed to swing her out of the current and get ourselves onto the shore where I got her up onto a tree which was lying down.”
Stewart made his way to the car park, where he showed police, fire and ambulance staff the woman’s location beside the river.
“She was shaking and very cold,” Stewart said.
“The police came down with me and got her warmed up.”
Emergency services in attendance
Stewart says the woman was speaking to emergency staff before being put in an ambulance, but her current condition is not known.
He believes the situation could easily have ended in tragedy.
“If my dog hadn’t been so persistent for me to take him down to the water, she would not be here today,” he said.
“The police told me not to go in but I couldn’t leave her because she was starting to go under the water.
“So I thought I had to take the chance.
“If we had waited for the fire brigade she would no longer be there.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We received a call at 7.14pm on request from the police.
“We were in attendance at the Rodney Gardens area of Dundee Road, Perth.
“We didn’t use any equipment. It was left in the hands of the police and ambulance.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said of the incident: “We were made aware, but this was primarily dealt with by Scottish Fire Rescue Service and Scottish Ambulance Service.”
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