Lancashire radio DJ Jordan North rescued by RNLI while trying to save drowning dog from River Thames

Video shows the dramatic RNLI mission to rescue Capital Breakfast host Jordan North, after he jumped into the river to help a struggling labrador from drowning.

Despite the strong current, the Burnley DJ managed to grab the dog by the collar. The dog, exhausted from fighting the current, couldn't walk and needed assistance. Jordan went to rescue the dog but ended up stuck on a pontoon in the middle of the Thames, and was rescued by Chiswick RNLI. Jordan praised the RNLI for their role in the rescue.

The radio host said on his Capital FM radio show: “I go for a run, and I run in London, just past where Fulham plays football, so right on River Thames. And there's this woman who's looking a bit distressed, okay. And then there are loads of people looking over the edge of the river where it is, and a dog is struggling in the water. So there's like, and it's really low down, and there's this dog that's like, basically drowning. And I took my headphones out. I was like “What’s going on here?” and they’re like, “It’s a dog down there, struggling”.

“So I'm trying to grab the dog at the end of the jetty but it’s shut and it’s like a 6ft gate, a lad is trying to climb over and he’s going “my knee, my knee!” My knees are not that bad, so I climb over. I go down to the jetties, it’s pitch black, and the dogs in the water .

“I’ve got my phone flashing. I'm going “here boy, here boy, here boy, come on, here boy”. And he's trying to get to me, this dog, right? And every time I can just about grab him, the currents, taking him. I'm going, I can't go in. I cannot go in.

“So I walk across this buoy, and I manage to grab the dog, okay? And I'm get him up and pull him up by the collar, and then he's struggling, and then he falls back in. So I get him and the dog's panting and crying, and I've managed to pull him up...

“The dog's legs have gone, so he can't get up, because he's so tired, so tired, he's been fighting this current for about 10 minutes. Oh, he's panting, and I’m kind of going, “it's all right, it's all right.” So then we can't get off this thing that I'm floating on in the middle of the Thames.

“My legs going dead, and everybody's watching from the side. And there's a dog on me, and I'm worried that my legs are dead and I fall in. So I went, “Can you call the Coast Guard please?” And so they were like, “Yeah, yeah, fine.” So they called the Coast Guard, and then the Coast Guard couldn't find us. So, everybody, it was a beautiful sight. They all put their lights on their phones.

“It was like a Coldplay gig.

“Yeah but they couldn’t get out to the bit that I’m floating on so they send on another smaller boat, but the dog’s scared because he's worried about going in. So I'm trying to push, push the dog in, finally, get the dog in the little boat. Then I'm stuck, so I've got to, like, balance and get back on the big boat if this is making any sense at all. And I get on, and the woman goes, “Oh, my God, oh my god!”. I'm like, “What? What? What is it unsafe? What?” she was like “Oh my god I listen to your podcast all the time!”

“It wasn’t I didn’t go in. 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 were going to go, I couldn’t hold on much longer so they got there just in time. The real heroes here are the RNLI who came out and got me, and put a blanket around me. They're the heroes.”

Thames Commander Gavin Simmons alongside his crew found Jordan sat on a float lift with the dog on his lap. Commander Simmons said: “We are on call to help all those who find themselves in difficulty on the water, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even our beloved pets! While we’d always encourage people to call 999 and ask for the Coast Guard to get us tasked to the incident prior to entering the water themselves, we’re happy that in this instance we were able to help and Jordan and the dog safely back to dry land”.