What Bill DIDN'T say is that he is a local hero!!
Extract from the Comet News (Stevenage Local Paper) Jan 22nd 2009 -
A MOTHER jumped into freezing water to save her seven-month-old baby strapped in a
buggy after it fell into a lake at Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage.
The incident happened last Thursday afternoon when the pushchair rolled down
a steep grass bank and into the lake that remained frozen in some areas following
the very cold weather.
“The baby was submerged and the mother jumped into the water that was up to her
waist and managed to pull the pushchair out of the water,” said Gary Sanderson,
spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service.
“It appears the child was strapped in the buggy when it rolled into the lake. Staff at the
lake did a great job looking after both of them until we arrived.
“Both required treatment at Lister Hospital.”
Eyewitness Bill Warder of the Stevenage Model Boat Club saw baby and buggy splash
into the lake.
“I immediately ran over.
She had already jumped in and when I got there I stood in the
water and helped both of them out,” said Mr Warder of Austen Paths, Stevenage.
“The buggy and the baby had gone under the water and pulling the buggy out was
difficult because it was stuck in all the rubbish on the bottom of the lake.
“The baby was very lucky and I offered to drive them home but they wanted first aid
and were looked after at the sailing club.” Jon Stone, director of marketing at
Stevenage Leisure, responsible for operations at the park, said the mother had been walking
with her child and two Jack Russell dogs when the incident happened.
“We understand one of the dogs had fouled on the footpath and she was clearing it up
when the pushchair rolled into the water,” said Mr Stone.
“The baby was stripped of its freezing, wet clothes and put in a survival blanket and the
ambulance was called. Staff there acted in a very professional way to deal with what was
an emergency situation.”
After the mother and her child had been taken to hospital, staff at the sailing club
spent half-an-hour retrieving the two dogs that had run off. The animals were later
picked up by a family friend.
Well done Bill Danny