Local Councillor and businessman Simeon Cole has thanked the members of Ross Rowing Club and the emergency services for rescuing his daughter, who got into difficulty in the River Wye last week.

Mr Cole told the Ross Gazette that his 17-year-old daughter had been paddling with friends when she was swept under by the current and could not get out. Luckily two members of the rowing club had seen what had happened and set out to hold her head out of the water until she could be assisted out of the river.

The emergency services were called to Ross on Tuesday, June 20th, just after 7.30pm, to reports of a drowning.

Five teenage girls had been swimming in the river and got into difficulties as they reached faster flowing water near the rowing club.

A local resident, who was at the scene and helped to rescue the girls, told the Ross Gazette that she had seen a group of five girls screaming and shouting after they got into difficulty in the river near the rowing club. She added that it was clear that they were in trouble.

She commented that even though the girls were local, they had not realised how deep and dangerous the river becomes around the rowing club steps.

While three of the girls were able to self-rescue, the other two needed assistance from the rowing club members to get out of the river.

The woman, who told the Gazette she did not want to be named, added that the girls were shaken by their ordeal, but they were all given dry clothes from the lost property box. The two girls who needed to be rescued were checked over by the Ambulance Service, but the other three were able to make their own way home.

Mr Cole said that he, his wife Sandra and the whole family are very grateful to the two ladies who helped Lydia. He said: “If they had not been there it could have been a very different outcome. We are so relieved and thankful.”

He added that she had been warned many times about the dangers of swimming in the River Wye. Simeon said: “Even that day we had told her to be careful but she had not realised the dangers of the current or the potholes in the river bed.”

She was paddling with friends and even though members of the rowing club shouted a warning that they were too deep, they did not move back to the shallow ‘beach’ area.

Thankfully Lydia has recovered from her ordeal and cannot remember much about it.