London: In a fortunate twist of fate, a man attempting suicide off the London bridge in Britain unintentionally alerted authorities to rescue another man who was reportedly drowning in the Thames river.
The authorities sprung into action after a man threatened to commit suicide by leaping off the bridge at around midnight Wednesday, The Telegraph reported Friday.
To their astonishment, the police and lifeboat crew on the scene, found another man in the water struggling to keep afloat.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) rescued the man in the water who was reportedly suffering from hypothermia.
The 33-year-old rescued man was in a confused state and could not give personal information except for his age nor could he say how he came to be in the river.
Meanwhile, police managed to stop the other distressed man from jumping off the bridge and helped him to safety.
"There were no other boats in the area at the time and I do not think anyone was actually aware he was in the water. Chances are if it had not been for the lifeboat crew launching to the original incident, he would never have been spotted and would have drowned," Toni Scarr, a lifeboat crew member for RNLI was quoted as saying.
She said the survivor could be confused about his whereabouts due to hypothermia.
The RNLI recorded the incident as a "life saved", which applies when a person would most likely have lost their life were it not for the intervention of a lifeboat crew.
The RNLI is a charity that saves lives at sea around the British isles.
