Shortly after midnight this morning, an off-duty Oban Coatsguard Rescue team member saved the life of a man drowning in Oban harbour.

Neil Macauley was returning to Oban with a taxi-driver colleague when both men heard shouts from the harbour. While Macauley’s colleague contacted the rescue services, Macauley located a line and managed to haul the man, described as heavily-built, to the safety of a nearby fishing boat.

Once the Oban Resue Team and the RNLI arrived onsite, the man was transferred to an ambulance and taken to Lorne Isles Hospital with a slight head injury and mild hypothermia.

“The quick reactions of Mr Macauly saved this man’s life,” said Clyde Coastguard Watch Manager, Stuart Atkinson. “He used all his Coastguard training and a good deal of initiative and bravery to effect a successful solo rescue, sure in the knowledge his colleague had called for back up help from the emergency services.”