New £20,000 rescue boat 'will help bring families closure'

A father whose daughter’s body was recovered from the River Clyde by a rescue charity has said a new boat will help other families such as his find closure.

The Glasgow Humane Society’s (GHS) new £20,000 rescue boat is fitted with GPS search equipment enabling the crew to mark any submerged object found.

It also has a drop-down bow to assist with rescues and recoveries.

Gordon Goldie joined the society – which was founded in 1790 and describes itself as the world’s oldest life-saving organisation – after they found the body of his missing daughter.

Gordon Goldie joined organisation after daughter Sarah's body was recovered by the charity in 2016. — Gordon Goldie joined organisation after daughter Sarah’s body was recovered by the charity in 2016. Email

Now GHS vice-chairman, he said: “The Glasgow Humane Society recovered our 18-year-old daughter Sarah’s body from the Clyde after she went missing in 2016.

“You can’t accept what has happened until you get closure and we couldn’t get closure until Sarah was brought home.

“An hour was like a day and a day like a week at that time and in the end the wait for us was four weeks.

“When she was returned to us it was a great feeling of relief and we couldn’t have been more grateful to the charity.”

He said the new boat will “dramatically improve how the GHS does this job for families facing the same tragic circumstances as we did”.

The new boat has been named after William Graham's dog Lede. — The new boat has been named after William Graham’s dog Lede. Email

The new boat will be named Lede after the bomb-sniffer dog owned by the boat operator, GHS officer William Graham.

Mr Graham adopted the dog when he left the Army after they served together in Afghanistan. Lede, a black Labrador, worked with him on the river until he died last year.

Mr Graham said: “It’s very important to be able to help search for someone and return them to their family and this new boat is a step change in how we do that.”