Man who rescued girl, 10, in weir drama

Published 11 Jun 2009 08:00 0 Comments

A TERRIFIED girl unable to swim was rescued from the River Kennet as she was being swept towards a weir.

The 10-year-old was adrift in a kayak with no paddle when Leonard Langdale, whose house backs onto the river, saw firefighters trying to reach her and rushed to help. Brave Mr Langdale, 55, from Elgar Road in Katesgrove, managed to pluck her to safety in the terrifying incident at 4.30pm on Saturday.

He said: 'She was crying, 'Help me, help me" and panicking.

'I leaned out over a step at the bottom of my garden and I grabbed her out of the kayak. She was very shaken up and scared, cold and frightened.'

Two fire crews had already been alerted. One team had thrown two lines across the river for the girl to grab but the rescue attempt failed.

The other crew was waiting ahead to try to catch the girl before she reached the dangerous weir.

Mr Langdale"s wife, Lynn, fetched towels and paramedics treated the girl for shock before taking her home.

Mrs Langdale said: 'If Lenny hadn"t been there she could have carried on, and further along the fences are higher so it would have been harder for her to get out.'

Caversham Road firestation watch manager Jim Powell said: 'She could have eventually gone over the weir at the lock. We were waiting upstream to make sure that she didn"t get that far.'

Mr Langdale, a driver for Reading Buses who still has the kayak in his garden, added: 'It looks safe on the river but it isn"t. It is deep water there and a strong current in the middle.

'I think some kids had got into a kayak downstream and then left her on her own and she panicked.

'She was all right, that"s the main thing.'

He added: 'I don"t even know her name.'

Dee Road firestation watch manager Steve Andrews said the girl was very distressed and calling out that she couldn"t swim, and he warned readers: 'Make sure you know what your children are doing, and make sure they can swim.'

- If you know the girl and can reassure the Langdales that she has recovered from her ordeal call 0118 963 3156.

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This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 11 Jun 09

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