HEROIC fisherman Mark Seagroatt was commended by firefighters last night for his quick-thinking on the banks of the River Thames which saved a woman’s life.

The 41-year-old carpenter, of Fitwell Road in Redhouse, came to the rescue of a 69-year-old woman trapped between a boat and the river bank near Little Wittenham in South Oxfordshire.

Mark and his fishing partner Roy Walker, of Gibbings Close, Buckingham, had been further up the river when they heard the commotion on October 6 last year.

In a formal ceremony at Kidlington Fire Station last night Mark and Roy were presented with commendations, an award only for lifesavers, by Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service’s chief fire officer David Etheridge.

“It’s good to be recognised by the fire service and everything, but it feels like it’s all been blown out of proportion,” said Mark, a father of two.

“It’s just something everyone, well, most people, would do. You don’t think twice about it. I don’t think I’m a hero or anything like that.”

Mark and Roy had travelled to the remote fishing spot near Day’s Lock, on the Thames, on October 6, when, shortly before 6pm, a dog walker ran to them asking for their help.

The anglers were told a woman had fallen between a boat and the river bank, and became trapped.

The boat had begun to swing dangerously in and out of the bank “It would have been quite claustrophobic between the boat and the bank,” Mark said.

“In parts the river can get quite deep and she might not have been able to touch the floor. She had nothing to hold on to and she was going into shock too.”

As Roy knelt on the boat, trying to pull the woman out, Mark pushed it away from the bank, giving him space to work.

With space between the boat and bank, Mark too jumped on to the boat and together they pulled the woman from the water.

“We just went back fishing after that,” he said. “We did make a joke about not catching anything afterwards because of the noise the air ambulance made when it arrived.”

“When I told my family they didn’t believe me. “Afterwards, when I had been called by the chief fire officer, they were proud.”

Mr Etheridge said: “These awards are very rarely given out – the criteria I set is that without the recipients’ actions, would a life or lives have been lost?

“I personally congratulate Roy and Mark for their selfless, life-saving actions “And I am very honoured to be giving out these commendations to them to mark their courage and bravery.”