- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Forth and Clyde Canal near Knightswood (source Google Street View).jpgMember 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.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- quadtodd 38 min 21 sec ago
And 3 of the 'workers' are just leaning!
- yellowjack 1 hour 9 min ago
Same sketch everywhere, or so it seems. Take Whitelegg Way in Bournemouth. Wide cycle lanes put in both sides of a (formerly very wide) two lane...
- yellowjack 1 hour 25 min ago
Sounds cool. I haven't taken an "unnecessary flight" since 1992. Flown many times since then for work, but you can't patrol the Iraqi desert, or...
- NOtotheEU 1 hour 49 min ago
My first thought on reading the headline was "ooh, has Clevedon put in covered bike parking now?".
- TheBillder 2 hours 45 min ago
I rented a car a few weeks ago, a Skoda Octavia (needed a big car for a weekend), and the ride was astonishingly good compared to my own 10 year...
- Sriracha 3 hours 42 min ago
Shimano were castigated for not bringing on new factories to meet pandemic demand, thus gumming up the supply chain. Their argument at the time was...
- Romanp 3 hours 52 min ago
I figured out a reason of that squeaking noise. I have xpresso 2 and 7, and also xpro 10 pedals, and that squeaking isn't present only at Xpresso 2...
- MichaelWinnerRIP 4 hours 53 min ago
Italian tourist and pussycat in Portugal.
Add new comment
5 comments
Man, I know that path. There's places where you have to walk the bike because it's only half a metre wide under the bridge and made out of cobblestone. One time I tried to brave through it and ended up having to brake with my shoulder against the wall because I couldn't even pull on the brakes without losing control. There's several of these bridges and there's no visibility to the other side because they curve hard towards the river and there's always a wall on the side.
This is the exact area in which I live and I use this canal daily in one direction for work and the other direction during school holidays for my daughter's holiday club.
I can't think of any point that I cycle along it where the path becomes "half a metre wide" under the bridges, if it was I would not be able to pass oncoming pedestrians/cyclists.
The year before last they installed "cat eye" reflectors/solar lights sunk into the sides of the path to make it clear at night where the limits of the paths are.
The problem with the passes under the bridges is more to do with the sharp zig-zag under the bridge not enabling you to see what is coming. As a result you need to slow down (which is why the path is cobbled in the section under the bridge) and anounce your presence with a bell. If changes are to be made to enable safely going under the bridges at a faster speed then barriers won't help. What would be needed is a change to the path to make it a gentle curve on the approach and or curved mirrors (as there are underneath some of the bridges on this canal) to enable better visability.
He was holding on to the side and still had a hold of the bike.
Good man! Reminds me of a story about a fly fisherman who got into difficulties while wading in a river. Someone on the bank offered a helping hand to pull him out of the water as he was on the point of being swept away by the current. He offered up his fishing rod with the words 'Save the rod'.
Amazing !!!!! a useful politician.
That's what I was thinking, I knew they had to be useful for something.