An Inverness woman who came close to being swept away by the city’s fast-flowing river has thanked her rescuers.
Nikki Oag, 20, fell 15ft down an embankment beside the River Ness after trying to take pictures of the river at Anderson Street.
She said that one of her Ugg boots caught on the new flood defence wall, sending her tumbling towards the water.
She badly injured her ankle and could not get back up the steep slope to safety.
Unable to move and watching the tide rise higher and higher, Miss Oag, a mother-of-one, tried to call her partner Lee Evans for help.
When she could not reach him immediately, she contacted the local pub, The Nip Inn, prompting regulars to rush to her aid.
Local councillor Donnie Kerr also turned up to help however efforts to get her up the slope to a waiting ambulance were unsuccessful.
In the end, paramedics called the Kessock Lifeboat, which picked up the stricken woman from the bank and took her to Inverness Marina.
She was then taken to Raigmore Hospital, where she was found to have torn ligaments.
Recovering at home in Merkinch from the Wednesday evening drama, Miss Oag said: “I went over to the embankment to take photos of the river. I went over the wall but my boot got caught and I went tumbling down a 15ft drop.
“I could not get up.
“I kept having to shuffle up because the water was coming closer. It was very fast. That’s why I went to get photos, because it was higher than usual.”
She said: “I was screaming in pain and very frightened. But everyone was so nice.
“I just want to thank everyone who helped.”
Lifeboat helmsman Stan MacRae said: “Where the casualty had injured herself made it impossible to safely get her out given her injuries. It was great thinking by the ambulance to realise the lifeboat was an asset they could use in this circumstance. We were more than happy to assist with the short safe passage round to the marina.”