Swansea: Rugby fan feared he would die after slipping into canal

Gerwyn Evans feared for his life after slipping into a canal

A terrified rugby fan has recounted how he feared he would drown after slipping from a path into a canal.

Cwmgors RFC supporter Gerwyn Evans was on his way to see his team play Vardre RFC, in Clydach, Swansea, when he fell in from an unlit path.

The 66-year-old said he was in the water for 10 to 15 minutes before he was finally dragged out by Vardre rugby club members.

Mr Evans said as he became more tired he went under "three or four" times.

A young couple stopped to help him after hearing him call for help.

"They tried to get me out, but I was too heavy for them so they raised the alarm," Mr Evans said.

"As it was, fortunately, two guys from Vardre rugby were coming along behind them and they helped me out by bringing me up to (another) part of the path.

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"By then news had got to the rugby field that someone had fallen in the canal, and three or four of the boys came running over to see what had happened and to help pull me out."

Mr Evans believed he would have died had help not come.

"I would have drowned because my arms were getting tired, my legs were getting tired," he said.

Vardre footbridge was closed by Welsh Water after it was declared structurally unsound

"I was getting close to the mud underneath so I could have got stuck in there and I think that would have been it."

He urged people to take care on the path branding it "deadly" by twilight.

Nearby Vardre footbridge, he believed, should be reopened or replaced.

That has been closed since Welsh Water declared it unsafe.

Mr Evans said: "Open the bridge, repair the bridge, build a new bridge with lights, that would make a heck of a difference."

He believed he would have not fallen in had that been in place.

According to Vardre rugby club president, David Waghorn, the bridge closure was an accident waiting to happen.

He previously called the remaining path "totally unsuitable".

"The existing bridge, the one that's closed, was lit, with lights on both sides," he said.

"It was a direct route across, on the level across the river to the playing field. Now it's a diversion up the canal which is in complete darkness."

Vardre rugby club president, David Waghorn, has called the path "totally unsuitable"

Welsh Water said the bridge was closed because of structural corrosion.

"The option to simply replace the bridge is not possible due to the scale and cost of the work that would be required.

"We will however continue to engage with Vardre RFC, and to offer to support them where we can in improving access to their pitches."