Member of Scottish Parliament rescues cyclist, aged 81, from canal

An 81-year-old man who fell into a canal in Glasgow while cycling has spoken of how a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) came to his rescue and pulled him out of the water.

Bill Watson was returning to his home in Glasgow from a trip to the Dunbartonshire village of Bowling when he fell into the Forth and Clyde Canal near Knightswood, reports the Clydebank Post.

While he was able to keep his head above water and held onto the bank, he was unable to haul himself out.

Luckily for Mr Watson, Ivan McKee, the Scottish National Party MSP for Glasgow Provan, heard his shouts as he was out on a run along the canal and came to the cyclist’s aid.

Mr Watson, who is retired, said: “I was approaching the bridge over the canal and I was looking out for any fast bikes coming in the opposite direction.

“I realised I was over too far to one side and I couldn’t get back over and then I ended up in the water.

“Everything was really heavy and I was up to my neck in water.

“Then I could see a yellow figure approaching. The look on his face when he saw me in the water was something.

“He got me out the water. I don’t know how much longer I could have held on there for without being pulled under.”

Mr Watson was treated for hypothermia at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and treated for hypothermia, with doctors also fitting him with a pacemaker after discovering a previously undetected heart problem.

 Mr McKee plans to discuss potential safety improvements with Scottish Canals and Holyrood transport minister Humza Yousaf.

“I think there are certain spots where extra barriers could help,” he said. “This is one of those, where the tow path goes down a slope to the bridge.”

The MSP said he was about to turn around and head back home while on a 16-mile run when he heard Mr Watson shouting.

“It was only when I was really close that I could see he was in the water,” he said. “He was holding on to the side and still had a hold of the bike.

“I pulled the bike out first then two girls who were passing helped me get him out and called for an ambulance. He was freezing when we got him out.”

Mr McKee’s office also helped Mr Watson find his bike which he had feared had been lost after his fall.

The cyclist, who has been riding for more than half a century and undertakes the ride along the canal monthly, hopes to be back cycling soon.