POLICE and State Emergency Service volunteers brought a man stranded on a Loddon River island to safety after unsuccessful attempts by friends to rescue him on Friday night.
The man, 22, fell from the disused railway bridge at Bridgewater before 8.30pm and received suspected spinal injuries after dropping metres into the river and taking refuge on the island.
Senior Constable Mick Balazs estimated the man was on the island for 90 minutes before an SES boat arrived and brought him to the river bank.
“They (family and friends) did attempt to unsuccessfully rescue him themselves with straps but he fell back down,” Senior Constable Balazs said.
“Probably all up he was down there for 90 minutes but most of that was waiting for SES with a boat to recover him. Once the boat was in the water it was a quick process to grab him and handover to ambos.”
Police and SES were called to the scene soon after 8.30pm with Marong unit volunteers bringing the region’s rescue boat to Bridgewater. The Calder Highway traffic bridge and Bridgewater Hotel carpark were closed while search lights were erected 
In 2022, a Murrayville man swam to the banks after his car crashed through bollards and ended in the river at Bridgewater. Police divers from Melbourne assisted in recovering the vehicle.