Mark Pusey stopped his car for a woman in distress by the Thames. The Met has given the Chiswick RNLI volunteer his second commendation in two years.

A Chiswick lifeboat volunteer has been given a Metropolitan Police commendation for stopping his car and staying with a woman in distress beside the Thames.

Mark Pusey, who volunteers as crew and as press officer at Chiswick RNLI, received a Basic Command Unit Commander’s Commendation on 10 July. The RNLI announced it on 4 September (RNLI news release).

It is his second. In 2025 he received an Operational Command Unit Commander’s Commendation after saving a person from drowning in the Thames.

What happened

The incident took place in May last year, the RNLI says. Pusey was off duty and driving past when he became concerned about a woman standing near the water.

He stopped the car and went over to her. Recognising that she was in distress, he talked to her and built a rapport. While he was with her he contacted the London Coastguard and the police without alarming her, saying out loud that he was “calling his mum to say he’d be late for lunch”.

By the time officers arrived, he had brought the woman to safety. He stayed with her and helped police keep her safe until the London Ambulance Service arrived. She was then taken to a place of safety for medical care.

“It’s thanks to the years of service I’ve had with the RNLI that I had the confidence to help,” Pusey said in the charity’s release. “You never know what people are going through and dealing with. Be nice, be kind, and be someone that you’d want your loved ones to meet if they were struggling.”

Andy Mayo, station manager at RNLI Chiswick, said the intervention showed that the crew’s training “does not begin and end on the lifeboat”. He added: “Mark recognised a person in crisis, stepped forward without hesitation, and stayed with her until she could be handed into the care of the emergency services.”

Pusey is a musician by trade.

The station behind the award

The station is busy. The ten most recent launches listed on its own page cover just nine days:

  • 6.50am on 31 August
  • 5.03pm, 11.17pm and 11.21pm on 1 September
  • 9.14am and 10.08pm on 2 September
  • 7.40am and 11.55pm on 6 September
  • 6.45pm and 11.31pm on 8 September

All were by the station’s E-class lifeboats, E-08 and E-09 (launch record). Half of those calls came after dark.

The crew have run that service since January 2002 from the Pier House at Corney Reach Way, a shared building the charity itself calls not fit for purpose. They are moving three miles downstream to a new base at Wandsworth Riverside. As we reported on 30 August, the fit-out is still under way, the cost has risen to £3.5m, and no opening date has been published.

What it means for you

The reason this story is worth reading is not the medal. It is that the thing that worked was someone stopping.

  • If you are worried about someone near the water, you do not need training to approach and start a conversation.
  • To get help on the river, dial 999 and ask for the coastguard. That is the RNLI’s own instruction, and it reaches the London Coastguard directly rather than through a general call handler.
  • If a situation is already dangerous, do not enter the water yourself. Call, stay with the person, and keep them talking until help arrives, which is what happened here.
  • Samaritans is free to call on 116 123, at any hour, from any phone.

The RNLI is funded by donations rather than by government, and the station page lists a local fundraising branch. The appeal for the new Wandsworth base is still asking for the final £300,000 of a £3.5m project.

Sources