Mother of baby pulled from River Severn in Shrewsbury thanks rescuers

The Shrewsbury mum, who did not want to be named, said she was eternally grateful to James Williams, Andy Hill and Mickey Bramall who dived into the water and gave first aid treatment when her daughter's pram was blown into the river.

She said: "We are still in shock, it was a terrible shock especially in the immediate days after. But I just can't put into words how grateful we are to the three men who saved our baby's life.

"We will never forget their bravery and we really do hope they win some sort of an award for what they have done.

"But we also want to thank the paramedics and police who were at the scene so quickly."

The baby's grandmother was walking the pram along The Weir on Friday morning when a gust of wind blew it into the water.

But Shrewsbury Town Council workers James Williams and Andy Hill leapt into the water before colleague Mickey Bramall threw in a lifebuoy and gave first aid treatment.

The 35-year-old mum said the baby's father called her when he heard the news from emergency services and she rushed to the hospital to see her daughter.

She said: "I had that awful sick feeling to the pit of my stomach. Thankfully she was just fine. Her body just shut down with the cold water so she couldn't ingest anything.

"She was cold and limp when she got out of the water but the hospital checked her over and I gave her a really long feed.

"She's been back to her normal self now, she's back to being smiley and happy.

"We just want to look to the future now, and I don't want to think about what could have happened.

"It has been really difficult coming to terms with what happened, especially for my mum as it was her walking along with the pram.

"She's so grateful to everyone who helped and we will all support her while she recovers.

"We have been in touch with the three men and we will be meeting up soon so they can have a cuddle with the baby.

"We have asked them to think of a charity close to their hearts and family members and ourselves want to donate some money."

The frightening incident has brought to light the potential need for railings or barriers along the river, a petition the mum says she would support.

She said: "I would definitely be in support of any petition for something like this. I do think it is important."

But the family has been overwhelmed with support and now want to thank everyone who has helped.

She said: "We just want to thank all the well-wishers as it has meant a great deal to know that everybody has been so overwhelmingly concerned.

"We also need to highlight what the men went through who had helped our daughter – it has been a very difficult time for them too and we are so very grateful."