TWO brave men have spoken of their part in a dramatic river rescue attempt after a woman was spotted falling from a York bridge.
On Monday (May 13) The Press reported an incident which North Yorkshire Police said happened at about 1.30am that morning.
The force said at the time that three people were rescued from the water near Ouse Bridge and that two were members of the public who entered to try and rescue the first person.
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Ibrahim Altuğ, 20, and Bekircan Öztürk, 21, from Adana in Turkey, said they were the only two people walking in Bridge Street where it spans the Ouse, towards Spurriergate, on their way home in the early hours from an evening in the city.
The cousins were celebrating the end of Bekircan’s first week in York and had been joined by distant relative and Poppleton resident Samil Sen, who was around 100 metres behind them when the alarm was raised.
The two men are seeking asylum in the UK and living with friends in Melrosegate.
Samil, who translated for the two men, said he watched the drama unfold from the centre of Ouse Bridge after first Ibrahim, then Bekircan, entered the water.
Ibrahim claimed he saw a lady on the bridge and thought she was going to fall in and then heard her scream.
He said: “She fell right from the middle of the bridge.
“I looked around, there was no-one there, then I took my t-shirt off, climbed over the parapet and dived in.”
He said he was acting on impulse and also wasn’t aware of the steps down to the water’s edge.
Meanwhile, knowing no English, Bekircan managed to raise the alarm by screaming ‘Help! Police!’ in the street between the end of the bridge and Spurriergate.
He went back to look over the capstones for Ibrahim, who was in the water, and said he could see it was a struggle to reach the lady.
Ibrahim said: “The current was strong, I was in the water in total for around 20 minutes but was being dragged down myself as I tried to get to her, but she was going further away."
From the bridge, Samil said he could see Ibrahim’s head going underneath the water.
Bekircan at this point said he had made his way down the steps at the Queen’s Staith side of Bridge Street then dived into the Ouse to try and reach his cousin, shouting, ‘I’m coming!’
The York Rescue Boat was deployed to the scene, police said.
After about 30 minutes, all three people were out of the water and receiving treatment from emergency services.
North Yorkshire Police said the two men and the woman who had fallen in were taken to hospital as a precaution, where Samil’s daughter was waiting with a change of clothes for the two men.
'Our training was to help save lives'
Ibrahim said he had swallowed some water, was in shock, and Bekircan received a cut and some swelling to his head when he dived into the water.
The two men said there were about 30 people on the water’s edge by the time they set off to hospital, including officers and emergency personnel, where a shivering Ibrahim received kisses from bystanders and salutations for his brave attempt to save the lady.
On Wednesday afternoon, returning to the scene, Ibrahim was recognised by a lady in Bridge Street who ran up to give him a hug.
Both men have received search and rescue training in Turkey, where the Ministry of Interior deploys experts when they are needed via its AFAD programme.
Ibrahim and his father were involved in volunteer efforts to search for survivors following the February 2023 earthquake which decimated Turkey and Northern Syria, including their home city.
The cousins each said if they witnessed a similar incident in Bridge Street they would do the same again.
Bekircan said: “We would do this for humanity - our training was to help save lives.”
In November 2023, North Yorkshire Police issued advice to the public on how to respond after officers rescued a man from the River Ouse in a similar incident.
The Samaritans say that whatever you're going through, you can call them for free, at any time, from any phone, on 116 123.
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