U.K. recognizes Sidney man’s bravery

A Sidney resident has been honoured for his part in rescuing a man who had fallen into a canal in England last September.

Doug Yelland pulled the seriously injured man to the canal bank, although the man died in hospital about a week later.

The recognition came from the Royal Humane Society, an organization founded in 1774 that recognizes bravery in saving lives. The society gave Yelland a certificate of commendation.

He was nominated for the award by West Mercia Police.

Yelland spends a lot of time in

England, living on a narrow boat on the U.K.’s extensive canal system from May to October, although the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped him so far this year.

Yelland said one evening he was sitting on his boat near the town of Ellesmere in Shropshire, when he heard a boat horn. He got up to investigate and heard yelling. “Somebody down the canal a little ways was screaming their head off for help, so I ran down there,” he said.

Yelland saw a woman at the back of a boat reaching with a pole for something in the water. “It turned out to be her husband — he was lying face down in the canal,” he said. “I managed to get a hold of his collar and dragged him over to the canal side, to the bank.” Yelland didn’t know it at the time, but the 71-year-old man had broken his neck in the fall.

Yelland could not pull the unconscious man out by himself, but two other people arrived at the scene and the trio got him onto a pathway. A few more people arrived and someone called the police, Yelland said. “We all just made him comfortable and put things under his head.”

After police arrived, the man’s heart stopped and an officer ran to a nearby grocery store and found a portable defibrillator. An ambulance arrived a short time later and brought a larger unit.

Yelland said he doesn’t believe either device ended up being used. The man was given CPR for about 45 minutes and was taken to hospital.

Yelland said his only CPR training was years ago. “After that, I’m looking for a CPR course to take,” he said. “I’m trying to find the time to take a first-aid course because I felt fairly helpless, really.”

Police told Yelland the man’s relatives got the chance to see him before he died, although he doesn’t believe the man regained consciousness. “[The police] came down to the boat to see how I was doing because we were all pretty upset about it,” he said.