HEROIC rugby player Michael Owen clung tightly to a woman who threatened to jump from a bridge over the M4 near Swindon.

Michael, 22, was driving east on the motorway with partner Jemma on Sunday when they spotted a woman standing outside the safety barrier of the bridge near Wichelstowe.

“We were travelling back from visiting family in Wales when Jemma suddenly pointed and said ‘oh my god, there’s a woman there’. I couldn’t believe it,” said Michael.

“I immediately stopped and held all the traffic behind me and called 999. I just thought I have to get up there.”

Despite having a broken hand, Michael scaled a grassy verge to get to the bridge and was joined by another good Samaritan as he began trying to talk the woman down.

Michael then clung tightly to the woman for more than an hour as she attempted to jump.

“I was in pain but you get that adrenaline rush that gets you through,” said Michael.

“ I didn’t want to let her slip because I could see she was completely exhausted and had no strength left. I was scared if I let go of her for a second because that would be it.

“She tried to jump a few times and I just clung to her under the shoulders with the other man gripping on tightly too.

"It was very unpredictable. But I was very firm with her, and I promised not to let her go.”

Michael said his main aim was to build a rapport so the woman would start to relax.

“She seemed to like my accent so I just started thinking and talking about Wales. I wanted to relax her, and I tried to act like we weren’t in that situation,” Michael said.

“I tried to calm her down by talking about the World Cup which seemed to work.

“It was so scary but I was never going to let her go. My hand was hurting like mad but to be honest I’d rather have lost my arm than let something happen to her.

“She kept saying that no-one cared about her and I just kept saying ‘of course they do, look at us here now, we care and we didn’t even know you before’.”

Michael’s sister Sarah-Jayne Bray said: “If anyone was going to do something like this it would be Michael — he is so passionate and caring and has got such a warm heart.”

A stretch of motorway was closed in both directions for 45 minutes as police used a cherry-picker to lift the woman down.

Modest Chinnor Rugby Club hooker Michael said the enormity of the situation had yet to fully hit him.

He said: “I still don’t think I’ve realised what’s happened, I think I did what anyone would do in that situation. I didn’t even think about it, all my focus was on her.

“I just tried to be as supportive as I possibly could. She just needed someone to talk to. I hope she is okay now.”

Wiltshire Police said the woman was taken to Great Western Hospital in Swindon as a precaution but was uninjured.