How a hero saved drowning woman’s life on River Avon

In March 2023 Matthew Johnston was walking his dog past the beautiful Lacock Abbey, an area he loves.

However, at a terrifying sound, the outing took a quick change of direction.

Matthew told this paper: “I heard the most blood curdling scream and instantly knew it was serious.”

The woman had been walking her dog by the river when the dog fell in. She had attempted to rescue him and ended up falling into the fast-flowing river herself.

She had been clinging to weeds at the water’s edge and shouting for help for some 20 minutes before Mr Johnston came along and heard her. Ignoring the danger to himself he climbed down the unstable bank of the river using exposed tree roots as hand holds.

As he was piling down the sheer two-metre face into the river, the quick-thinking hero phoned the emergency services to alert them to the very real danger. Matt said the conversation became quite heated, as the operator told him they would not be able to send an ambulance out for almost an hour.

Eventually, Matthew managed to secure the woman to the roots on the bank. Despite his protests, the woman insisted that he save her dog first – he dragged the dog onto the bank and managed to tie him to a tree before plunging back into the waters and hauling the woman out.

“I'd left my coat up on the bank and put it round her. I sat with her for five or 10 mins…at that point, I said to the ambulance people it was resolved, and then I walked her back to where she lived.”

This was not the first time Matthew, who spent 12 years in the army, has come to the rescue of a person in distress, having previously rescued a person in difficulty in Essex. Just a few months ago, he said, he rescued a man from a mine shaft in the woods in Box Woods.

The spot at Lacock where Mr Johnston rescued a woman from the Avon. (Image: Matthew Johnston)

He continued: “My wife always jokes I’m either at the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Mr Johnston is now set to receive a Royal Humane Society Testimonial on Parchment for his fight to get the woman and her dog back to safety in the horror incident.

“What he did was truly heroic,” said Andrew Chapman, secretary of the Royal Humane Society.

He continued: “He was in immediate danger of slipping or falling into the river and being swept away and possibly drowned all the time he was fighting to rescue the woman and her dog. But he ignored the danger he was in. His only thought was to save the woman and dog.

“It was an act of outstanding bravery and as a result two lives were saved. He did an incredible job and richly deserves the award he is to receive.”

Responding to the announcement, Matthew described the award from such a “prestigious organisation” as “a tremendous privilege” and “an absolute honour.”

The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back nearly 250 years. Other than awards made by the Crown it is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life.

It was founded in 1774 by two of the day's eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan. Their primary motive was to promote techniques of resuscitation.

In the meantime, Matthew will return to his day job as the founder and trustee of the Trust for Records of Enslavement and Emancipation (TREE), a UK-based foundation dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and sharing historical records of enslavement and emancipation.