A teenager who saved the lives of a young boy and her father was left “speechless” after Lewis Capaldi serenaded her during a surprise TV appearance.
Lucy Montgomery could not stop grinning as the singer belted out his new single for her on the set of The Jonathan Ross Show last week.
She had been on an ITV studio tour when Ross and Capaldi suddenly appeared to tell her she had won an award for her life-saving.
The 15-year-old rescued family friend Mathieu, eight, and her dad Graham when they were swept away in a treacherous river. Capaldi, 26, told her: “We’ve all heard about how incredible you are.”
Stunned Lucy said: “I was shocked, it all happened so fast. I wasn’t expecting Lewis to come out and sing to me at
all. I just couldn’t believe it. It was overwhelming.”
Lucy was paddleboarding in the Charente River during a holiday in France in July 2021 when she noticed Mathieu had started drifting away into much deeper, dangerous waters.
Then 14, she and dad Graham – who can’t swim – initially walked in shallow waters nearby and tried to keep the
lad calm.
But as the flow grew stronger, Mathieu was swept away – and brave Lucy, from Armagh in Northern Ireland, swam out and managed to drag him to the bank.
In the meantime, Graham – a headteacher – was dragged off his feet and into the deeper part of the river. Seeing that her dad was also now in grave danger, the teen swam to him and urged him to turn on to his back so he would float.
Graham recalled: “Before Lucy intervened, I was thinking that I was going to drown. Then Lucy was there – she was very calm and in control.”
The youngster said there had been “no time to be scared”, adding: “All I was thinking about was trying to find a way to get him to safety.”
She managed to pull him to safety – but was then pulled into deep water herself. With no energy left to swim, she
spotted her paddleboard floating and managed to grab it, finally drifting to the riverbank.
Graham, 50, said he had “no doubt” that her courage and decisive actions had prevented him and potentially Mathieu from drowning.
“We are very proud of Lucy,” he said. “We are shocked that our incident has got the attention that it has. She is really wonderful and very humble.”
Lucy has won the Teenager of Courage Pride of Britain award for her bravery – but she had no idea that was the reason she had been summoned to London on October 14.
She had been told that ITV wanted to include her in a documentary about inspirational people and that she had won a tour of its studios as a prize.
Mum Lynn, a 48-year-old teacher, said: “She was brought on to the set of The Jonathan Ross Show, which she watches.
“She told me she was excited enough just to sit on the sofa where it’s filmed. Then Jonathan himself appeared and he was just so lovely. He admitted that he knew all about her and Lucy loved that.
“The TV host told Lucy: “While you’re here, you can do my job. Have you read autocue?”
Reading from the device, the teen said: “On the show tonight, it’s one of my favourite artists, Lewis Capaldi!”
Then the star walked on. He “joked around” with Lucy and her parents – who also have son Sam, 17 – before performing his new single Forget Me.
Lucy added: “It only sank in the next day. I told my closest friends. They were pretty jealous as they like Lewis too.”
Afterwards the singer said of the teenager: “She’s a hero, so to be a small part of this is a massive honour.”
TV presenter Ross, 61, added: “What she did was absolutely amazing.”
The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards with TSB are on Thursday at 8pm on STV.
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