Heroic woman jumps into river to save young swan

By Barney Riley via SWNS

This is the moment a woman bravely jumped into a river to save a stricken young swan that was swimming in circles while "honking and crying."

The video, which went viral on TikTok, shows Katie Chalmers enter the water without hesitation, and save the cygnet.

Recruitment agency managing director Katie, 43, became concerned after she saw the swan swimming in circles while out for a run.

The qualified rescue diver, who thought the bird had been caught in fishing line, sprang into action and pulled the swan from the River Witham, near Boston, Lincolnshire, England.

Katie had to contend with the cygnet's protective mother as, once she got near, it attacked her and she was "clonked by a wing."

She soon realized the stricken bird was not trapped, but had suffered some form of episode.

Katie took the cygnet to a specialist, who liaised with local vets, and came to the conclusion the young swan was suffering some kind of trauma - but not bird flu.

"I challenged myself to run a mile every day for 30 days, so went on a big run into town," Katie said.

"I got onto the riverbank and I could hear the honking of the swans in the water.

"I watched this cygnet swimming round and round and the more I looked at it, I was convinced it was entangled in fishing wire.

"I got it in my mind it was tied in its beak as was not breaking the circle. It horrified me
as it didn't have control.

"I thought 'what do I do?' My first thought was to leave it alone and I thought about ringing the RSPCA, but it was bad signal.

"I thought if I'm going to do something. I need to do it now."

Katie, who lives on a farm and describes herself as an animal lover, bravely went into the river as the current was calm.

"I was half expecting to be attacked by the swan. The mother bird did go for me, but then she backed off and climbed out of the water," she said.

"As soon as I grabbed the cygnet both the parents backed off. They didn't like the approach.

"I knew as I went in swans can do some absolute damage.

"I couldn't have lived with myself knowing it could have been a human-made incident.

"But as soon as I picked the bird up it was super cuddly and wanted to be out of that water, sat with its head over my shoulder."

The local specialist suspects the bird was suffering from trauma and that it could have also been attacked by other swans, possibly even the swans thought to be its parents.

In another act of kindness, Katie is going to pick up any vets bills incurred after taking the bird to the specialist.

The latest update, is that the little swan has survived the night at the specialist and will be seen by local vets.