'He kept his head and didn't panic': Hero Morgan, 10, saves young pal from drowning after he plunges into canal in Wordsley
Morgan Bridgens didn’t think twice when he saw his friend fall into the canal.
By the time he got to five-year-old William Smith he had gone under the water and could have drowned had it not been for his actions.
Today 10-year-old Morgan described how he managed to pull William to safety from the Black Country canal just in time.
His mother Carly Smart said she was immensely proud of her son’s life-saving actions.
The drama happened as the pair were playing on a rope swing on the banks on Stourbridge Canal off Longboat Lane in Wordsley.
After the rope swing broke William wandered off to get another stick with the hope of fixing it.
But Morgan suddenly heard a ‘big splash’ and went running down a set of steps to where the noise came from.
When he got to the bottom he saw Will in the water and was sinking under the surface.
Morgan got onto his stomach on the canal path, outstretched his arms and pulled his friend out of the canal.
Carly, 30, a mother-of-three from Wordsley, said: “Morgan panicked at first and didn’t know what to do.
“He told me ‘I had to get him out, mom’.
“He saw Will go under two or three times. When Will went under again, Morgan got him by the arms and pulled him out.
“I didn’t know what had happened when Morgan came back home. Morgan sat there all quiet and I knew something was wrong.
“When he told me I was hysterical. I said ‘have you got him out?’ and he said Will had gone back to his house. I went down to Will’s mom’s straight away.
"They only live a few doors down. Will was a bit shook up but he was fine, he was recovering and was in the bath.”
Morgan and William both attend Brook Primary in Wordsley.
Carly’s youngest son Rio, five, is in William’s class, which is how the boys know each other.
Carly added: “I’m really proud of Morgan. He has received lots of praise for his actions and it has opened his eyes.”
She said the drama happened at the end of the summer holidays and Carly said she wanted to highlight what happened as a warning to parents about the dangers of canals that criss-cross the Black Country.
She said: “William’s parents are really grateful. We are just so proud that Morgan acted quickly.”
Brook Primary School headteacher Jan Baker: “I am very proud of him, the whole school is.
"He thought really carefully about what he did, he wasn’t rash, he was very sensible. He kept his head and didn’t panic.
“He acted like someone who was much older,” she said.
