'Their lives were at risk yet they came': Teen makes plea to find couple in Lake District rescue

A teenager has made an emotional appeal to find the heroic couple who rescued him and his family from drowning, after they swam out of their depth in the Lake District.

Mahmood Desai, who's 15-years-old, from Preston, wrote an impassioned plea on Twitter hoping to find the couple, saying: "Their own lives were at risk yet they still came."

"We thanked them at the time but I really want to show my gratitude so I need to find them," he said.

He was on a day out with his family last Thursday but got into difficulty in the water at Ullswater.

He wrote: "My cousin and I went to swim in the lake when the water suddenly deepened.

"My cousin started to drown so I tried to help him but then I also started to drown. My uncle tried helping us but he lost control and also began to struggle.

"This couple without any hesitation came into the water to save all our lives. Their own lives were at risk yet they still came. We thanked them at the time but I really want to show my gratitude so I need to find them."

Mahmood's sister, who witnessed the incident, told ITV News the couple went in immediately to rescue her brother, cousin and uncle.

"Without them, three members of my family wouldn't be alive today," the 18-year-old said.

The woman, who asked not to be named, told ITV News: "We were just sat near the water and we saw that they were struggling. My uncle tried to save them but the water was very deep.

"By the time I was looking, they were underwater, we all thought they were gone and they wouldn't come back. My mum was screaming, 'come and help please!'.

"We didn't know what to do."

She continued: "I was quite panicked, my uncle Suhel, my cousin and my brother and then the couple dived in and all of them came and the woman came and dragged my uncle and my brother towards safety."

Mahmood's sister said: "I just want to thank them personally. We were so lucky, that they were close-by and especially that they could swim so well. There's no reception there so you can't call for help either."

"My brother knows how to swim but just the weight of my cousin, it held him down and then the water got really deep," she said.

Speaking to ITV News, his sister said she hopes to find the couple so her family can express their gratitude and thank them personally.

"We had eaten there and couldn't give them much but gave them a couple of biscuits to show them our gratitude. But we were still in shock and we didn't get their names or their numbers as we were too focused on helping my brother and cousin.""We want to give them something to show how thankful we are," she added.