Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Woman nearly lost toes trying to rescue bee
AYOUNG woman nearly lost her toes after she jumped into the River Thames as she tried to save a drowning bee.
Sophie Hawkins, 19, entered the water near the Riverside pub in Lechlade, north of Swindon, after spotting the struggling insect at around 8pm on Tuesday.
She had been enjoying the sunshine on a friend’s boat in the hours before the incident, which saw her rushed to Great Western Hospital.
A nasty gash, which severed a tendon, was just a few centimetres from slicing her toes, which could have had left her with life-changing injuries.
“I was on a friend’s boat, which was moored up near the bridge and I saw a bee in the river drowning,” Sophie said.
“I jumped in to try and save it and felt an impact on my foot. It didn’t hurt but it felt like my skin was flapping around in the water.
“I went into shock and I was struggling, but my brother jumped in and managed to save me. He pulled me to the bank near the pub and another couple helped pull me up out of the water.”
She said the wait for an ambulance would have been an hour and a half, so her brother rushed her to hospital in his car where she was treated by medics.
Miss Hawkins’ treatment included an X-ray to ensure there were no foreign objects in the foot, cleaning under local anaesthetic, a tetanus jab and stitches.
As a result of the injury, she has lost movement in one of her toes.
Her mother, Lizzie Fey, took to social media to warn people about the dangers of leaping into the river following the accident.
“My daughter jumped off a boat that was moored close to Halfpenny Bridge. She cut her foot very deeply on a sharp item on the riverbed, severing a tendon”, she wrote.
Ms Fey continued: “She went into a complete panic in the water and luckily her brother sensed something was wrong and jumped in to save her. He got her to the edge where another man helped by hauling her out of the water.
“The river is very low due to the hot weather, increasing the chance of touching the ground.
“There is a lot of metal, glass and other dangerous material on the riverbed, especially under the bridge.”