Woman, 48, falls into water at Woodlands Waterfront Park, restaurant staff saves her with lifebuoy

A woman who fell into the waters off Woodlands Waterfront Park was rescued with the help of employees from a nearby restaurant.

One employee told Shin Min Daily News that after hearing her cries for help, they rushed over and threw her a lifebuoy.

The police were also alerted, and the woman was eventually brought to safety.

Police said the 48-year-old woman was conscious when she was taken to the hospital and was later apprehended under the Mental Health Act.

Heard cries for help

One of the employees, Sagar (transliteration), said he had arrived at the restaurant where he worked at about 11:35am when he suddenly heard a scream nearby.

At first, he thought people were arguing.

However, when he heard waves crashing along with repeated cries for help, he realised something was wrong, he told Shin Min.

He went to the beach to check and saw a woman in the water, tightly gripping a nylon rope with both hands.

Sagar said he immediately shouted for help, grabbed a lifebuoy and threw it into the water, while also calling the police for assistance.

Calmed her down

While waiting for the police and rescue teams to arrive, Sagar said he kept talking to the woman to calm her down.

“I told her not to panic, that rescuers would arrive soon and bring her ashore,” he said.

Hoping to reassure her further, he also asked a female passerby to help communicate with the woman, thinking it might be more comforting for her to speak to someone of the same gender.

Shortly afterwards, authorities arrived at the scene and launched a rescue operation, successfully bringing the woman to safety about 15 minutes later.

A patrol boat, a rescue boat, police cars and fire engines were deployed, with about five police officers and six Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel involved.

Only wanted to help

When asked how he felt about the rescue, Sagar said he never thought of himself as a hero.

He said his only thought was to get the woman out of the water as quickly as possible.

Clung to nylon rope

The nylon rope the woman was holding on to was later found to have been cast earlier by a man who had been fishing in the area.

The man, Yu, told Shin Min that he had been fishing at the spot from around 6am that day.

At about 8am, he noticed a woman in sportswear loitering nearby, but did not think much of it.

He said he continued setting up his fishing rod as usual, tying the nylon rope he used to the railing and casting it into the water before moving to another spot to fish.

It was only when police arrived, and a commotion broke out, that he went over to check, and was shocked to realise that the woman in the water was clutching the very nylon rope he had earlier cast.

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