Music student Daniel Bridgwater has been hailed a hero after dragging an injured and drowning man out of a Birmingham canal.
Daniel, of West Bromwich, saw the man sinking in the water at Canalside Walk, Summer Row, and pulled him out onto the bank yesterday.
He and his friends were then able to put the man into the recovery position until paramedics arrived.
Daniel, aged 20, was walking near the canal during a break from studying a music degree at Birmingham Conservatoire.
He said: “Some people coming out of the residential halls were carrying a broom and said there was somebody in the water.
“I just acted more quickly I suppose and went to the side and dragged him out. I was just getting ready to jump in.
“My friend then helped me get him on the side. My cardigan was covered in blood as the man was bleeding. He seemed to have hit his head on the side of the canal.
“Initially he wasn’t breathing, but thankfully, after a couple of seconds he started coughing and spluttering and began to breath again so we put him in the recovery position.”
West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman Murray MacGregor said: “Daniel and his friends appear to have arrived in the nick of time.
“There seems little doubt that their quick actions saved the life of this man.
“It is refreshing to see that complete strangers have gone out of their way to help a man in a potentially life threatening situation and they should be commended for their actions.”
Mr MacGregor said the man was completely submerged in the water except for one leg.
He said: “Ambulance crews took over treatment of the man, who is believed to be in his 50s, and stabilised his condition at the scene.
“He was transferred to hospital for further assessment and treatment. It is hoped that he will make a full recovery.”
Modest Daniel, of Law Street, was playing down his part in the rescue today.
He said: “What else were we to do? You can’t just leave someone in the water when you know that you can do something about it – anyone else would have done the same thing.
“I think everyone there was just pleased that the outcome appears to be so positive.”
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8 Comments
well done …..
what a hero xxx
Great bloke - make him a knight !!!
Well done Daniel.
Well done lad! If you had been in the uniform of a PCSO,
you would have had your wrists smacked for not carrying
out a risk assessment because you had not been trained
in life saving procedure.
Dan you are the MAN well done
good news at last .
I hate to say this but the fatcs in this article are not strictly true.
This person has taken all the credit for something that he was a small part of. There are plenty of witnesses that will back me up I’m sure when I say that he helped another girl and boy pull him out of the water - it was a completely joint effort there - and then the girl went on to check his signs and put him in the recovery position when the man started to breathe.
She sat and talked to him while they waited for the paramedics, although he was unresponsive to her.
There were three students that witnessed the man fall in from their flat window and ran down to help - alerting Daniel and others that he had fallen in. Each person played a very important part in this - calling for help, looking for blankets etc. and it’s a shame that Daniel has made it all about himself, not that they are looking for recognition but more the fact that he has not acknowledged that the majority of the action came from elsewhere.
Just to back up what the other ’student’, said, there were actually 5 students in total involved all who did equal amounts in saving that mans life. It seems the are getting no mention in this, and that one individual is taking all the glory for himself.
in response to reading the comments from student and student2, the terms of “we went to the side and pulled him out” and comments such as “THEIR actions” surely provide the evidence that this article speaks not of just this lad but those who helped aswell. I was there myself watching from the bridge, noticing that the lad with the blue cardigan got there first (reacted quicker!) and put him in the recovery position. I have also read other articles on this topic, and it just proves how reporters and newspaper companies alter stories to attract readers. For God’d sake he even mentions a certain Joe Cowell’s name in another newspaper. If you dont believe me, one newspaper claims he dropped his tuba to get the man out of the canal. It seems to me that these people (student and student2) are the other students who were there and are jealous that they have not made any news coverage at all. Credit to all of you but shame to those of you who feel that he is taking the credit for himself! Just shows that all children are after these days are attention!