Dramatic footage shows lifeboat crew pulling drowning man from River Thames

Dramatic footage shows a lifeboat crew bravely rescuing a drowning man after he slipped underwater near Woolwich Pier in south-east London.

Rescuers responded to reports of screaming heard from the River Thames just before 6am on Sunday.

They were forced to jump into the water to rescue the man as he struggled against a strong current.

“There is no doubt this is a life saved – if we had been a minute later, the man would not have survived,” Tower Lifeboat RNLI said in a statement.

The footage shows a man struggling to stay above water underneath the jetty as rescuers on a lifeboat attempt to throw him a flotation device.

Seconds later he slips under the surface as one of the rescuers jumps and swims to the man.

“The crew member in the water felt the man’s head under the water and tried to pull him up.

“The man rose to the surface gasping for breath; the crew member immediately took hold of the man to maintain his airway and started to swim them both back to the lifeboat,” Tower Lifeboat RNLI said.

It added: “The man’s life was in grave danger, so a dynamic risk assessment was made, and a crew member committed to the water without a helmet.

“The immediate risk to life, the swell, structural surroundings and how long the casualty had been in the water meant the crew member had no other choice if he was to rescue the man.”

Tower Lifeboat Helm, Steve Doherty, said rescuers normally would not enter the water without a helmet but the extra ten seconds taken to put one on would have been fatal for the man.

“Without the actions of the lifeboat crew, the man would not have been rescued and would have drowned,” he said.

After he was brought into the boat, Mr Doherty said the man showed signs of “reduced consciousness” and was passed on to the care of the London Ambulance Service.