A QUICK-thinking hero dived into the sea to save a suicidal young woman who threw herself off the edge of a harbour.
Stephen George, 41, who grew up in Holton-le-Clay, had just finished a 12-hour shift as a coastguard when he saw the woman wearing pyjamas swaying by the side of the harbour in Weymouth, Dorset, at 7pm.
His colleagues watched with concern for a few minutes, but as soon as they went to their vehicles, the 20-year-oldwoman jumped off the side of the harbour and into the water – a 15ft drop as it was low tide.
Stephen said he "didn't even think about it" as he shed his jacket and dived into the 12C water after her – even though he works in the control room and is not trained to take part in rescues.
He swam to the woman, grabbed her, and dragged her to some concrete steps – usually used by tourists to get to rowing boats during the summer – and pulled her out of the water.
Stephen's colleagues in Weymouth, where he now works, who had seen him jump in, had already called an ambulance and he kept his arm around the girl to keep them warm until the ambulance arrived.
Stephen, who went to Tollbar school, said: "I knew that something was wrong by looking at her and when I saw her go in, it was just instinctive.
"The adrenaline got going straight away and I didn't really think about the cold – I was just focused on making sure that she was safe.
"It takes a while for the sea to lose its warmth after the summer so we were lucky it was this side of Christmas.
"She was panicking so I had to try to calm her down and get her to the steps so she didn't drag me under, too.
"Luckily, my colleagues saw me jump in and had already launched an operation as they would do with information from the public – but it was me in the water."
It later emerged that the woman had been drinking and she had jumped into the sea in an attempt to end her life.
Stephen said: "Apparently she had been having a really rough time of it lately and it is so sad that it could get to that point, particularly in someone of her age.
"I saw her face as she went in the water and she looked as though she changed her mind instantly and realised that this wasn't what she wanted to do.
"People in those circumstances often want to just put it behind them – which I can understand – but she actually came into the station to try to find me and say thanks but I wasn't there.
"It was very brave of her to come back and see me and I hope things pick up for her."
