A MAN who was saved from the Clyde has told his Balloch rescuers of his gratitude.

Hugh McGowan, 60, and his 75-year-old friend were on the river when their 15ft fishing boat capsized last week.

Although Hugh managed to swim a mile in freezing waters to shore, his friend was unable to get out.

But cousins Raymond and Stephen McBride, both from Balloch, were passing near Cardross and heard a long cry of “help”.

Stephen, 35, who has a decade of experience at sea, went into the water and swam out to the older man, then pulling him to shore.

Raymond, 30, ran to their car to get clothes and blankets to help keep the man warm.

Stephen, who had been working in Helensburgh when they pulled over in Cardross on their way home, told national media: “Just before we headed back to the car, we heardone single and quiet ‘help’. We looked at each other and thought, ‘what’s that?’

“We looked about everywhere and then we spotted him. He was about 200 yards off the shore, you could barely see him, he was wearing a black life jacket.”

Stephen phoned the coastguard before jumping into the water. He said: “We brought everything, got him wrapped up in warm clothes and we waited about 35 minutes from the helicopter coming from Belfast. The helicopter got there first, but shortly before it arrived I heard the train coming along.”

The quick-thinking pair flagged down the train to see if they could get a first-aid kit. Then they discovered the second man, Hugh, who had got to shore and collapsed on rocks in front of the railway.

The boys kept talking to the older gentleman to keep him alert.

“I spent a lot of time with the guy, he kept on saying he was going to go and I kept talking to him to say to hang on, that we were going to go fishing together,” Stephen said.

“The man grabbed me, and said ‘That’s me, I’m away’. And I said, what do you mean you are away, it took me a second to click.

“I just started talking hundreds of random stuff to keep him with me. And I said to him, don’t be daft, you are going nowhere, me and you are going fishing together.”

Stephen and Raymond have since spoken to Hugh, while his friend remains in hospital for observation. He expressed his gratitude to the two men for saving them.

Hugh told the media: “We were in the water and I saw a big bit of wood floating down the river that looked like a railway sleeper - that’s what hit us and turned us over.

“We were in the water with our lifejackets on and basically had an option to swim to one side of the river or the other. The other side, towards Port Glasgow, has a fast-flowing channel and deep water.

“On the Cardross side, close in, there is shallow water and sand banks so we went for the safe option.”

A coastguard spokesperson said: “At coastguard personnel from Greenock, Helensburgh and RNLI Helensburgh attended a capsized vessel with persons reported in the water between Port Glasgow and Cardross.

“Two persons had been in the water for a considerable time when they were spotted by a passing train driver who stopped to assist.

“Both persons were safely recovered from the water, one casualty was taken by Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 199 to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and due to difficult terrain a second casualty was assisted via rail to Cardross train station to meet awaiting Scottish Ambulance Service SORT crews.

“Both casualties were thankfully wearing floatation aids whilst in the water for 60 minutes.”