A 26-year-old man stripped to his boxer shorts for a swim in Loch Ness but could not get out of the water for an hour – and his pregnant girlfriend had to call 999.
Cam Hendry started worrying when he “lost all feeling in his legs” due to the cold water, as choppy waves slapped him against the side of their hired cruiser boat.
But the Ness Express, a rib boat operated by Cruise Loch Ness, reached him and passengers Alan and Kate James pulled him out of the water, gave him a body suit and took him to Fort Augustus where he was airlifted by coastguard helicopter to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
His 23-year-old girlfriend, Laura Mattinson, who is 20 weeks pregnant, was escorted back to Fort Augustus on the cruiser by Mr James and the Loch Ness lifeboat team – and local police officers then drove her to the hospital.
The couple were on their way from Fort Augustus to Urquhart Castle on Monday when Mr Hendry entered the water in the middle of the loch, opposite Altsigh Youth Hostel.
Mr Hendry, a bus driver from York in England, said: “I thought, ‘I can not go all the way up to Loch Ness and not have a swim. I thought there were steps on the edge of the boat and got down to my boxers and jumped in, and immediately regretted it. I realised how choppy it was and could not step back on.
“My girlfriend is 20 weeks pregnant and she could not pull me back in the boat.
“She threw me a life ring. I think I was in the water for about 30 minutes when she called 999.
“I had started shivering and thought, ‘this is getting really dangerous’. By the time I saw the Ness Express I could not feel my legs and could not turn around because I was getting slapped against the side of the boat.
“I was in the water for about an hour in total and they said my body temperature was below 35C (normal is 37C) when they pulled me out.”
Mr Hendry was given heat pads in the rescue helicopter and then warm towels by hospital staff.
He thanked Alan and Kate James and all other rescue personnel for their assistance and pledged to never do anything “so stupid” again.
The couple have hired their cruiser boat from West Highland Sailing at Laggan Locks for a week and will return home on Saturday after venturing west to Loch Lochy.
