Fisherman thanks RNLI crew who saved his life

A fisherman who was rescued when his dinghy overturned has thanked the team who saved his life.

Allan Grant's boat capsized in the River Banwell near Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset. He clung to his dinghy in the water for two hours, until help came.

A team from Weston's Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) responded after he was spotted, and he was winched to safety using the coastguard helicopter.

Mr Grant said: "It was a terrible experience, very traumatic, I never want to relive it again. I'm just so grateful to everybody, all the life boat crew, the RNLI, the coastguard."

Mr Grant said when his dinghy capsized, he went "down into the water with it". He managed to get hold of the ladder on the back of his boat.

"I didn't know what to do, I was panicking. My rowing boat floated away," Mr Grant said.

Mr Grant was rescued by coast guard helicopter

"I was holding on to the ladder and shouting for help and nobody came, not for a long time," he added.

"I was in the water for two hours. I was holding on, my fingers were frozen and white."

He said eventually, he saw a man walking up the hill near the river, and Mr Grant shouted and waved.

"He saw me and he started to run. He raised the alarm," Mr Grant said.

Mr Grant went back to thank the crew who saved his life

He has now recovered fully and went to meet the team who rescued him in Weston on Wednesday.

Simon Johnson was part of rescue team and said: "We usually don't get to hear the other side of it, from Allan, that's quite emotional.

"Well done, Allan, hanging on for two hours was phenomenal.

"He knows now, the hard way, that a life jacket is the most important thing."

Mr Grant said he will now "always have a life jacket on".