Runners dive into lake to save struggling sheep

L-R: Britney Lawrence, Abi Cox and Aimee Turpie rescued a sheep from Siblyback Lake in Cornwall

A training session for the London Marathon took an unexpected turn after three friends had to dive in to a lake to rescue a sheep.

Aimee Turpie, Britney Lawrence and Abi Cox were doing a 5km (3.1 miles) run around Siblyback Lake on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall when they saw the sheep get chased into the water by a dog on Wednesday afternoon.

The trio, who were helping Ms Cox train for the marathon, said they felt the need rescue the sheep as they feared it could die.

Wading into the water still in their running gear, Ms Cox and Ms Lawrence swam over the sheep and managed to bring it back to dry land.

Ms Turpie said at first they thought it was two dogs chasing each other before they realised one of the animals was a sheep.

"The lake is quite deep and the poor sheep was just swimming around in circles," she said.

Abi Cox and Britney Lawrence swam over to the sheep in the lake

Ms Cox, 23, said she had no hesitations about going into the lake when she saw the sheep struggling.

"To be honest, I didn't really think about it and just dived into the water," she said.

"The sheep looked like it was so exhausted and I think it would have died if it had stayed there much longer.

"When we got to it, we could feel the sheep was trying to float and as soon as we got it back to dry land, it just fell to the floor."

The trio, who all work together at Steve Hoskin Construction in Pensilva, said they and another passer-by kept an eye on the sheep until it eventually walked away.

Britney Lawrence said it "felt good" to save the sheep

Ms Cox said: "If it had been someone's dog in the water, no-one would thought twice about trying to help it."

Ms Lawrence said it was "definitely the most eventful run" any of the trio had done.

"It was great to help the sheep and we all felt good about it on the rest of our run," she said.

South West Lakes Trust, which owns the lake, said it was very glad the sheep was now safe.

The charity issued safety advice for people walking dogs at its sites and to anyone who might consider entering the water.

A spokesperson said: "We do ask that dogs are kept on leads and out of the water when at our lakes.

"One of the reasons for this is because dogs can disturb livestock, ground nesting birds and other wildlife.

"Thank you to those involved for reporting this to us – and for your rescue efforts.

"However, we would urge visitors not to put themselves in harm's way when they visit our lakes."