Diplomat praised for rescuing drowning woman from river
A British diplomat in China has been praised after he jumped into a river to rescue a drowning student.
Chongqing consul general Stephen Ellison swam the young woman to safety after she slipped on rocks and fell into the water on Saturday.
A video posted on social media showed the woman floating face down in the river before Mr Ellison removed his shoes and jumped in to swim her to safety.
We are all immensely proud of our Chongqing Consul General, Stephen Ellison, who dived into a river on Saturday to rescue a drowning student and swim her to safety. pic.twitter.com/OOgXqsK5oe
— UK in China 🇬🇧 (@ukinchina) November 16, 2020
A bystander can be seen in the footage throwing a lifebuoy to the pair, which appeared to help pull them to the bank of the river.
Mr Ellison told the BBC: “She was unconscious, she was not breathing and for a short time we feared the worst. But as we got back to the side, she started breathing again.”
The British Embassy in Beijing tweeted: “We are all immensely proud of our Chongqing Consul General, Stephen Ellison, who dived into a river on Saturday to rescue a drowning student and swim her to safety.”
Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly was among those to praise Mr Ellison.
He tweeted: “We have fantastic people in our organisation. I am proud beyond measure of Stephen’s courage and decisiveness. Good work fella.”
