HERON Clough today hugged her brother Jan and said: "Thanks for saving my life."

Youth worker Heron sank unconscious into the murky depths of a lodge after she fell from a rope swing 35ft above the water.

When brave Jan, 15, saw that his sister had disappeared under the water he dived in and dragged her out and tried to revive her.

Today Heron, 20, said: "If Jan hadn't done what he did I could have drowned."

Heron, Jan and their friends had gone to the lodge off Hermitage Street, Rishton, for a swim to cool down in the summer heat.

But it all went horribly wrong when Heron fell from the rope swing 35ft above the water.

She said: "I fell and hit the water with my face which knocked me out. So when I didn't come back up from under the water, Jan, who was standing on the waterfall, dived in and rescued me.

"Our friend Matthew Greenwood rang for an ambulance on his mobile phone and the air ambulance arrived as well. "In the end I was put in a normal ambulance and that is when I finally came round."

Jan said: "I'm not all that good a swimmer but as soon as I realised Heron was unconscious I just knew I had to dive in and save my sister. It was my instinct."

Heron, of Bridge Street, Rishton, was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary where she was put on a drip and had X-rays taken before she was allowed home.

She said: "Jan saved my life. Afterwards all the policemen and ambulancemen shook his hand and told him how well he'd done to rescue me."

Heron and Jan's mum, June Clough, said: "I'm so glad Jan was there, he saved his sister's life.

"We are very proud of him."

North West Water has warned people against swimming or playing in water in the hot weather after Longridge teenager Graham Lambert died in a reservoir canoeing accident.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.