A teenage dog lover is set to be honoured at the Pride of Britain Awards after saving the lives of her father and a family friend.
Lucy Montgomery, 15, was on holiday last year when she made the difference between life and death after her dad and an eight-year-old boy were swept up in treacherous river currents, the Mirror reports.
The Armagh girl will be given the Teenager of Courage award after the ordeal.
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Lucy had left her little Schnauzer Charlie at home during a family break, when she found herself in the middle of a crisis.
She was paddle-boarding on Charent River with an eight-year-old family friend, Mathieu when she realised he was in trouble as he started being pulled away by a strong current taking him into much deeper, dangerous waters.
With the child panicking, Lucy tried to reassure him and walked alongside him in shallow water close to the riverbank, and her father Graham, who cannot swim, joined her.
But the situation just got worse and Mathieu and his paddle board were swept away so Lucy swam out to him and was able to bring him onto the bank.
And suddenly she realised her father was also in trouble, after he was swept into a deeper part of the river. So brave Lucy, who as 14 at the time, got back into the river and swam to save her dad, getting him to turn onto his back so he could float.
Mathieu’s father, Pascal helped her pull Graham to the river's edge but she was so exhausted saving the others she had no strength left to save herself and Lucy too was pulled out into deep water.
Quick thinking, she spotted her paddle board in the water and held onto it, finally drifting to the safety of the riverbank.
Graham, a headteacher, said: “I can’t swim and there was a limit to what I could do. I have no doubt that Lucy’s quick and decisive actions that afternoon prevented injury and perhaps worse to a frightened child and prevented me from drowning.. As a family we couldn’t be prouder to see her recognised in this way.”
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