THE Bishop of Worcester played a key role in the rescue of a man who was drowning in the River Severn.

The Bishop, the Right Reverend Dr John Inge, helped to direct rescuers to the man after seeing him go past his office window at the cathedral.

“I looked out the window of my office and noticed a man flowing past very quickly at the west end of Worcester Cathedral," he said. “I jumped on my folding bike so I could get to the scene to direct emergency services to the right location as I knew he would be difficult to spot.

“The man was using the side of the river bank to slow himself down and as soon as I reached him, the emergency services launched a boat and came rushing to the location.

“The emergency services have done brilliantly throughout this difficult flooding time and during this incident.

“I want to give thanks to them and my thoughts and prayers are with the rescued man and his family.”

We reported on Thursday on the swift response by emergency services, who rushed to Worcester bridge at 12.11pm, after reports of the man in the river.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called to reports of a patient in the water near to Copenhagen Street in Worcester at 12.11pm. One ambulance, two paramedic officers, the Trust’s Hazardous Area Response Team, the Midlands Air Ambulance Critical Care Car and the Midlands Air Ambulance from Strensham were sent to the scene.

“On arrival we discovered one patient, a man, who was rescued from the water by the fire service. He was treated by ambulance staff at the scene before being transported by land ambulance to Worcestershire Royal Hospital in a serious condition.”

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