A YOUNG athlete has been hailed a hero after saving a woman who had fallen into the freezing River Stour.

Keen runner Frank Bailey, 20, was out for a training run minutes from his home in Stourcroft Drive, Christchurch, at around 1.30pm on Tuesday when he happened to look towards the river and see a splash.

Also noticing a small dog running around frantically on the river bank, with no owner in sight, he went over to investigate.

The woman, known only as Helen, was hanging onto a branch on the side of the river, having fallen in trying to retrieve her dog Ruby’s tennis ball.

Frank, who is currently on Easter holidays from studying sports science and nutrition at St Mary’s University at Twick-enham, said the lady, believed to be in her 40s, was unable to climb out as the bank was so steep and slippery.

He added: “She couldn’t shout for help or anything like that because she was so cold. When I grabbed hold of her and pulled her out she was so cold and she had no way of pulling herself up.

“There were no other people around so she probably would have been in a bad way after ten minutes, because it was just so cold.”

Frank said the lady seemed quite shaken up, but told him she was okay and that she lived locally and would make her own way home, so Frank continued with his run – part of his training for Sunday’s 10k Bournemouth Bay Run.

He added: “She was really saying ‘thank you, thank you’.”

Frank’s Dad Jim said he was certain he had saved the woman’s life.

He added: “Frank said she was hanging on for dear life and she was like a block of ice. The river would have dragged her over the weir.”