Reality Star Rescued From River Thames While Trying to Save Drowning Dog

Jordan North was rescued from the River Thames after attempting to save a dog struggling in the water. The radio DJ and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! runner-up, 34, was out on a run near Hammersmith Bridge in west London Monday evening when he spotted the labrador in the water and leapt in to help it, he recalled on his Capital Breakfast show Tuesday.

“A big thank you and a massive shout out to RNLI Chiswick who came and rescued me because I was getting a bit panicky,” he said, per the Daily Mail. “I was getting a bit nervy as well, because I thought ‘My legs are going to go, I can’t hold on much longer,’ so they got there just in time. The real heroes here are the RNLI who came out and got me, put a blanket round me. They’re the heroes.”

The incident occurred at around 5 p.m. local time as North was running near his West London home. After a “distressed” woman approached him and asked that he help save her dog, who was “drowning” in the river, North said he made his way to a jetty and climbed a 6-foot gate and then attempted to grab the struggling pup.

“But every time I try to grab him the currents take him and I thought I can’t go in. I walked onto the buoyancy pontoon and I manage to grab the dog, he’s panting and crying. His legs have gone and he’s so tired and been fighting this current for ten minutes,” he recalled. “We can’t get off this thing floating in the Thames, my leg has gone dead with a dog on me. Everyone is watching so I yell can you call the coastguard please.’ But they can’t find me so, this was a beautiful sight, everyone put the lights on their phone.”

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) confirmed the rescue operation and shared a video of the moment North was rescued. In the clip, North could be seen with the dog on a float, with a rescuer remarking, “That’s what’s his name off the radio, isn’t it?” Thames Commander Gavin Simmons and crew Sid Blake, Tom Coe, and Cameron Crawley could then be seen assisting North into the boat.

“We are on call to help all those who find themselves in difficulty on the water 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even our beloved pets,” Gavin said as he joined North on his show Tuesday. “While we’d always encourage people to call 999 and ask for the Coastguard instead of entering the water themselves, we’re happy that in this instance we were able to help Jordan and the dog safely back to dry land.”