A university student in York kept a man calm in the freezing River Ouse by singing Adele’s Someone Like You and belting out Leeds United chants until rescuers arrived.
Will Tretheway, 19, was on a night out when he heard strange noises from the water. He called 999, then scrambled over a brick wall onto the bow of a small white boat to reach the struggling man and hold on tight.
“I knew Someone Like You word for word—that’s the only reason I picked it,” Will told BBC Radio York. “I was shouting at him to keep kicking his legs so he wouldn’t get colder.”
The pair soon discovered they shared the same name and were studying the same degree.
When the man in the water mentioned he supported Leeds, Will switched to football songs. “We were proper chanting by the time the boat got there,” he said.
It took rescuers from York Rescue Boat (YRB) around 40 minutes to arrive. The man was “freezing” and whisked straight into a waiting ambulance.
YRB’s Mark Mullen said the river was a chilly 12 °C—cold enough for cold-water shock. “It’s like jumping into a cold shower and gasping,” he explained. “If you gasp underwater, you start drowning. The key is to relax.”
Mullen warned against jumping in to help. “You usually end up with two casualties. In York, ring 999 and ask for the fire service—they’ll call us. On the coast, ask for the Coastguard.”
YRB has already responded to 69 call-outs this year—a record high.
