Rugby player clings to woman's hand for an hour to stop her leaping off M4 bridge

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A rugby player held on to a woman's hand for more than an hour after she threatened to throw herself of a bridge over the M4.

Micheal Owen, 22 of Neath Port Talbot, had been travelling along the motorway with his girlfriend, Jemma Richards.

Ms Richards spotted the distressed woman and the couple stopped their car to help.

The woman had climbed over the bridge's safety railings near Chippenham in Wiltshire.

Mr Owen reached through the barrier railings and held the woman's hand while they waited for the emergency services to arrive.

He was quoted on the BBC website as saying: "I have a broken finger from rugby so I was obviously in a bit of pain but I managed to get my grip.

"Through the whole process I was just trying to talk to her. One of the things that clicked was that she liked my accent so I started talking about the rugby."

An elderly man also stopped to help before the emergency services arrived, Mr Owen said.

According to Wiltshire Police the woman was taken to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

She was reportedly uninjured.

The Mirror quoted Michael's sister, Sarah, in the family's hometown of Cwmavon, as saying she was "so proud" of her brother.

"He has an amazing personality and a huge heart, which is evident from his actions here," she was quoted as saying.