Girl tells of boater who fell in twice

THE girl who rescued the woman boater who fell in the waterway twice, as reported in narrowboatworld has now told what actually happened.

Laura Teal, who was walking her dog along the towpath, saw the woman fall from from the stern of her narrowboat into the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Snaygill, but was able to reach her and pull her out, then went into the boat with her asking if she needed help, but the 17 years old was told that it was okay, and so she left, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Fell in again

It was only moments later when the woman appeared on the bow asking to see the girl's dog, that she fell into the water again, but this time disappeared under the boat.

At the time Laura was on her mobile asking her mother what she ought to do, relating:

"I was terrified. I had seen her go in, vanish, then come up again, and splash and swim around with her face down. I thought she was swimming out, but she sank again and stayed down.

"My mum told me not to jump in, that it was too dangerous and that she would call the police. I was in a state of shock. I blamed myself but I knew it would be dangerous to get in and I was told not to."

Pulled out

The police arrived, with an officer putting on a life-jacket, going into the water with a long pole, and found the woman a few feet from the boat, grabbed her feet and pulled her out.

Though she had been in the water around 15 minutes, she was revived by the emergency services, with a police officer giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and a paramedic giving her oxygen before she was taken away. and took her to Airedale General Hospital, where she is 'stable' a fortnight after her ordeal.