An injured man made a lucky escape when he was saved by a volunteer lifeboat crew after he fell from a tree into the River Thames

The Teddington Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) volunteer lifeboat crew were on the way back from the Twickenham Riverside Festival when they were informed of the casualty at around 3.20pm.

The Peter Saw lifeboat crew headed to the area to search after a kayaker said a man had just fallen for a height into the River Thames.

The rescue team was led by Jon Chapman, with crew members Howard Evans and Ray Searles also racing to search the area.

Teddington RNLI (stock photo)

The casualty was found with potential back, arm and leg injuries, as well as multiple lacerations to his back.

London Coastguard was informed of the incident and an ambulance was called for.

Teams from London Ambulance HART (Hazardous Area Response Team) and an ambulance arrived at the scene despite a difficult drive along a rough towpath from Teddington Lock.

The man was evacuated on a spine board to the Major Trauma Unit at St George’s Hospital for full check-ups and treatment on on Saturday August 5.

Teddington RNLI helm, Jon Chapman, said: "It was an amazing coincidence that we were able to get to this casualty literally within seconds of his fall, and assess, stabilise and look after him before handing him into the care of our fantastic London Ambulance Service colleagues.

"Surprisingly for a station on the edge of London, Teddington’s area has a considerable amount of rough terrain and it is in this sort of incident, where a casualty is in an area very difficult to access by road, that a fast response from water-based first responders can make a big difference.

"All of us at Teddington send our very best wishes to the casualty for a good recovery."

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