Reading man describes desperate attempt to recover woman's body from Thames

THREE men who rushed to recover a body from the Thames have spoken out about their desperate rescue attempt to help.

Thames Valley Police has launched an investigation into the unexplained death after a 55-year-old woman, who has not yet been named, was originally spotted by a Reading resident near the Island Bohemian Bowls Club, Reading.

Members of the public Dave Bennett and two other men were ferrying someone to Fry’s Island when they spotted the person in the River Thames on Monday, April 29.

Facing the unfolding tragedy, Mr Bennett, Paul Goddard and Steve Harlow tried their best to reach the person in the water from their boat.

The incident unfolded close to the Island Bohemian Bowls Club which is a short way down the rover from Caversham Bridge, on Frys Island.

Speaking to the Reading Chronicle, Mr Bennett said: "We had just taken someone over to the island when Paul’s wife, Carol, rushed out of the house and shouted over that she had noticed a body floating down the middle of the river.
“The hardest thing for us was trying to get them into the boat. The river was taking them down so fast that we couldn’t get a hold of them.

“At that time we couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman but we could see that they were wearing a puffer coat and big black boots. We could see they were face down in the water.”

The men managed to get hold of the person's coat in a bid to rescue them onto a nearby jetty.

Emergency services were called and were scrambled to the scene to take over the life-saving attempts.

The South Central Ambulance Service, Thames Valley Police and the Air Ambulance team were present at the scene as the woman was recovered from the water.

Tragically, Thames Valley Police has since confirmed the 55-year-old woman, who was recovered by members of the public from the River Thames, died in hospital later that evening.

Mr Bennett added: “The police have been superb with their help. It hasn’t affected me hugely but they have offered counselling if we had been struggling."

Any police activity including a cordon at the site of the incident has since been cleared and Thames Valley Police has urged anyone with information to get in touch.

The force also said in a statement that it does not believe there is a wider threat to the public.