Watch: Police rescue ‘drunken’ woman who fell into a canal in Birmingham city centre

A woman fell into acanal opposite the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham city centre as police and a street warden dashed to save her life.

Enoch White, a street warden with Westside BID, helped two police officers make the dramatic rescue after the woman, reportedly in a drunken state, stumbled off a 12-foot high canal bridge at around 8.30pm yesterday (Wednesday, July 5).

The woman was thought to have hit her head on the concrete below the bridge before she fell into the deep water. One police officer immediately lowered himself into the canal to hold onto what was now an unconscious woman and keep her afloat.

His colleague ran to a nearby barge to borrow a life buoy, and Mr White then carried this along a narrow ledge underneath the bridge and managed to slip it around the woman’s body. He then dragged the woman out and put her in the recovery position, while the police officers called an ambulance.

Although the woman regained consciousness, she was still intoxicated and could not be easily moved, so police officers commandeered the same barge that loaned the life buoy to pull up alongside her and take her to a safe landing point.

Mr White, an experienced Westside BID street warden, had been on duty with his bike near the Crescent Theatre when he responded to radio reports of a drunken woman near the canal. He said: “When I arrived, the woman was happy as Larry, singing away in a huge clump of nettles, and I started to walk her away from the canal edge.

“Two police officers turned up so I let them take charge while I made my report, but as they were with her on the canal bridge, she stumbled backwards over the low wall. I ran to the edge and watched as she must have hit the concrete before rolling into the water.

“The police responded so quickly, one stripping off his body armour and lowering himself into the water to hold her up, the other darting across to a barge to get a life buoy. There was no easy way of getting to the woman, but I managed to hold on to the edge and balance across a very narrow ledge.

“By this stage the weight of the unconscious woman was dragging the officer down and he was clinging on for dear life, so I managed to get the life buoy on her and drag her out. The woman was then picked up by the barge and collected at the side of the canal by paramedics, but police officers had to handcuff her as by that stage she was getting violent once minute, flirty the next." Mr White added: “We jokingly called her The Mermaid, but seriously I’m just so glad she survived.”

Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: “I want to thank Enoch and the two police officers involved for acting in such an heroic and professional way. Westside is a fantastic place to visit, but there are long paths alongside the canal throughout the district and it is crucial that people are very careful, especially if they’ve had too much to drink.

“Fortunately, we have a fantastic team of street wardens here at Westside BID, who work closely with West Midlands Police, and the value of that relationship once again proved itself last night.”

The woman involved, who has not been named, was taken to hospital last night and is reportedly recovering. She is due to be interviewed by West Midlands Police later today (Thursday, July 6).