A NEWPORT teenager and his dog helped save the life of a man stuck on a River Usk mudbank for eight hours.

The drama started shortly before midnight on Bank Holiday Monday, when 16-year-old Glyn Richards (pictured above) was at his home in Colne Street, near Rodney Parade. It was shortly before midnight when Glyn's dog, a Jack Russell cross called Becky, started barking.

Glyn said: "Becky was barking for ages, and when I went outside to see what was going on, I noticed that there was someone down by the river.

"At first I thought it was just somebody hanging around in the long grass. "I called my mother, and she got our next door neighbour to come with us to have a look. "It was then we noticed that the man was stuck in the mud. I went in and called for an ambulance, and they came and were able to get him free."

When the exhausted man was freed from the mud, he was able to tell the ambulance crew that he had been trapped since 4.15pm that afternoon.

Glyn added: "He did not know what day it was when the ambulance crew spoke to him. He was shaking and looked so traumatised. He could not talk much, as he did not have the energy.

"All he was able to say to ambulance crew was that he had been walking along the footpath on his way home from town at about 4.15pm when he slipped and fell into the mud."

An ambulance spokesman confirmed that the man was taken to the town's Royal Gwent Hospital.

Glyn is a pupil at Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw in Pontypool, and is currently revising for his GCSEs.

His grandmother, Sylvia Jones, who lives next door, said: "I am very proud of him. The man could have drowned if he was there much longer.

"I am sure that my grandson and his dog undoubtedly saved this man's life."

*Are you the man who was trapped in the mud? Would you like to say thank-you to Glyn? Call the newsdesk on 01633 777219.