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LIFEBOAT crews are used to dealing with emergencies, whenever and wherever they happen.

But one Hampshire rescue team were stunned when a life-threatening drama unfolded right before their eyes – when a man leapt off the Itchen Bridge and landed in the water just yards from their boat.

The off-duty members of Solent Rescue, based at Lepe Country Park, were testing their emergency vessel in the River Itchen after some maintenance work, when they were suddenly called into action.

They were able to save the man, who had jumped in an apparent suicide bid, leaving him suffering little more than shock.

Crewman Andy Walker said the team spotted him standing by a lamppost on the bridge above them, but initially assumed he was just taking photographs.

He said: “But as we went past we saw him looking off and so we slowed down and thought ‘hang on, this doesn’t look too good’.

“As we turned around we looked over our shoulders and he jumped.

“We saw him hit the water, so went straight over and pulled him out and got him in the recovery position.

“If it had been two or three seconds earlier he’d have probably landed in the boat, he was that close.

“I’ve done loads of rescues, but nothing as bad as that where we actually saw it happen – normally we get there after it’s happened.

“It must have been a cry for help because you can’t miss our boat with the big blue light on it, but someone was looking down on him.

“He was very, very lucky – he must have fallen 90 feet and it was a slack tide.

Luckily he went in feet first, but even then he could have hit the bottom and broken his legs.

“He was at least 50 metres from the shore and in that kind of shock you’re not going to be able to swim. He was bobbing about and his head kept going under. In Southampton Water, he could have just been swept away.”

Andy revealed it was sheer chance they were on the river last Thursday to save the man, who is believed to be a foreign national in his twenties who is facing deportation from the country.

He said: “We weren’t even on duty, and it’s not our patch.

“We didn’t know we were going out then – it was just a freak bit of luck for him really, but it was a good thing.”

Police and ambulance crews were called to the scene and spoke to the man once he was back on shore.

Article and images courtesey of the Daily Echo.