Video: Fife tourist helps save woman from drowning

A Fife woman on holiday in London has been described as '˜heroic' after helping to save a woman from drowning in the Thames.

Natalie Harrison (36), was sightseeing in the capital with family and posing for modelling shots for a photographer friend when her daughter spotted a head rushing past in the river.

The mum-of-two leaned over a safety barrier to grip the hand of the woman and managed to hold on until she could be hauled into a lifeboat.

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The incident took place on Monday after London Coastguard received reports of a woman in the river by Bankside Pier, near Shakespeare’s Globe theatre.

A lifeboat crew rushed to the scene and found Ms Harrison was keeping the casualty afloat, stopping her from drifting away in the dangerous tidal flow of the Thames.

The RNLI described Natalie’s response as “a risky, but utterly selfless and incredible act of public service”.

Steve King, helmsman at Tower RNLI station, said: “If it wasn’t for Natalie’s heroic efforts, the woman in the water may have already gone under and we might not have been able to save her.”

The woman who was rescued, thought to be in her late 20s or early 30s, was conscious and breathing when pulled onto the lifeboat, but was cold and distressed.