MP Stephen Gilbert helps save woman from River Thames 23 October 2013 Last updated at 07:30 An MP has helped rescue a woman from the River Thames after seeing what he thought was a dead body float past him. Stephen Gilbert, MP for St Austell and Newquay, was at an event at the House of Commons terrace, overlooking the Thames, on Tuesday night. The Liberal Democrat said: "What looked like a body just floated past. Then I saw that the person then moved and I followed them down the terrace. He threw a lifebelt which the woman caught before being pulled out. #Result The RNLI and Marine Police rescued her from the water near Westminster Pier. Mr Gilbert said: "There are some lifebuoys on the terrace, I guess this is not the first time something like this has happened." He added the shock had left him "barely able to string a sentence together." After the rescue he tweeted: "Shaken after seeing a body float past House of Commons terrace - she moved, I threw a life-buoy and she's now been rescued! #Result." The woman was taken to hospital.