Ashes stars Prior and Broad save man from bridge plunge

ENGLAND cricketers Matt Prior and Stuart Broad helped prevent a man jumping to his death from a bridge in Sydney, the [1]Daily Telegraph reports.

The pair were returning from a charity event in central Sydney when they became involved in the "dramatic late night rescue".

Walking across the Pyrmont Bridge with England security officer Terry Minish, the cricketers spotted a man "teetering" on the edge. Wicketkeeper Prior noticed that the young man – who is believed to be British - had taken off his shoes and had thrown his phone, wallet and passport into the water.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The man, who was "acting erratically" made a "motion as if to jump", but was grabbed by Broad and Prior. They wrestled him back to the safety of the walkway on the bridge and struck up a conversation which lasted almost an hour before police arrived.

"He was saying he just wanted to drown," Minish told the Telegraph. "Matt helped to pull him down off the edge of the bridge and sat with him until the police arrived. It all happened very quickly and we acted on impulse. It is what you do in these situations."

Prior added: "We just did what anybody would do in that situation. We were trying to help a bloke who was struggling and in a bad way. I look back and I'm just glad we left the bar when we did and we were there for him."

Although the man is believed to be British he reportedly did not recognise the two cricketers who both took part in England's disastrous Ashes campaign. Broad later tweeted: "@MattPrior13 is a best friend of mine and I'm very proud of him. It was a tough situation but so glad he was there."