Footage has been released of the moment two police officers waded into a river by torchlight to rescue a vulnerable missing person.
The woman had gone missing from the Retford earlier in the day, sparking a search operation that involved a police drone and an aircraft from the National Police Air Service.
As darkness fell on Thursday October 1 concerns grew for welfare of the woman, who was eventually traced to the banks of the River Idle at Eaton Bridge.
After wading into the chest-high, freezing water the woman was retrieved by PCs Ash Edwards and Karl White and led to safety.
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Once on dry land she was given first aid and taken to hospital for treatment.
PC Ash Edwards said: “It was pitch black and we could only see by torchlight. The water was flowing and very cold and it was not possible to see below the surface, but the woman was clearly in distress and we really had no other option other than to enter the water ourselves to help her.
“Once I got out to her I managed to convince her to hold her hand out and grabbed her, and with the assistance of Karl managed to get her back to dry land.”It was a difficult situation to be in but we were pleased to play a small part in what by that time had become a fairly major search operation.”
Chief Inspector Liz Rogers said: “This was a challenging and potentially dangerous situation for our officers to find themselves in and I would like to commend them for their brave actions and cool thinking under pressure. Incidents like this remind us that every time an officer goes out on patrol they really have no idea what circumstances may ask of them.”
