Exclusive:
Jordan North was rescued by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in December last year in a dramatic rescue that began when the DJ noticed a Labrador had fallen into the River Thames
Jordan North to train with RNLI in special This Morning feature
Jordan North is to host a special segment of This Morning to pay tribute to the “heroes” who saved his life last year, the Mirror can reveal.
The Capital Breakfast host, 35, was rescued by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) back in December in a terrifying ordeal on the banks of the River Thames near Hammersmith in London. Jordan was out on a late afternoon run when he spotted a Labrador who had fallen into the water, and was struggling to stay afloat. The radio DJ stepped onto a pontoon on the water, but once he had rescued the dog he got stuck on a beam, which prompted a member of the public to raise the alarm.
Luckily for Jordan, the RNLI crew were out on a training exercise near Hammersmith Bridge, meaning they arrived at the scene within three minutes. The crew found Jordan sat on a float life with the dog, as people gathered on the riverbank to shine their phone torches at the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star so the RNLI team could locate him in the dark.
“A big thank you and a massive shout out to RNLI Chiswick who came and rescued me because I was getting a bit panicky. I was getting a bit nervy as well because I thought my legs are going to go, I can’t hold on much longer so they got there just in time,” he said the next day during Capital Breakfast. “The real heroes here are the RNLI who came out and got me, put a blanket round me. They’re the heroes.”
During Monday’s edition of This Morning, Jordan will present a special segment that highlights the vital work of the RNLI, and will take part in a training exercise, similar to the one that rescued him from the freezing water. During the VT, which the Mirror can reveal, Jordan will participate in a training session with the RNLI Chiswick Lifeboat Station crew, and will carry out a rescue drill with a dummy floating on the water to replicate a real-life situation faced by RNLI crews on a daily basis.
“I wanted to understand more about the people who came to my rescue… After being in that water, I have a newfound respect for what they do,” he said in a statement ahead of the special This Morning segment. “Since the RNLI charity was first founded in 1824, they have saved over 146,000 lives including my own and the Labrador… From me and that lovely dog, thank you so much.”
Thames Commander Gavin Simmons, who rescued Jordan alongside Sid Blake, Tom Coe and Cameron Crawley, urged people to get help rather than risk their own lives. “While we’d always encourage people to call 999 and ask for the Coastguard instead of entering the water themselves, we’re happy that in this instance we were able to help Jordan and the dog safely back to dry land,” he said.
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