AN Irishman has been hailed as a hero after assisting in the rescue of a seriously ill man who fell into a river.
Paul Grimes, originally from Dublin, was one of two men who saved a drowning man in Melbourne, Australia last night.
He was out for dinner in the Docklands area of the city at around 9pm when he heard cries for help coming from the Yarra River.
A man in his 50s had fallen from a pier after suffering from cardiac arrest, prompting another man – Ahmed Almohaimeed – to jump in after him.
Despite Mr Almohaimeed’s best efforts, the stranger was too heavy and he got into difficulty bringing him back to safety.
That was until Mr Grimes, who has lived in Australia for six years, rushed to their aid and helped Almohaimeed lift the stricken man out of the water.
Speaking to Ten News Melbourne this morning, the Irishman said: “I grabbed him under the arms and I was afraid I was going to fall over, so I got one of the girls to actually stand on my feet so that I wouldn’t.
Restaurant diners have turned heroes after they saved a man from drowning in Victoria Harbour at Docklands. #TenNews @KatherineFirkin pic.twitter.com/OIyqUAQBJR
— Ten News Melbourne (@tennewsmelb) January 22, 2018
“We took a while to lift him out of the water and just lay him down on the pier.
“I was ready to jump, but lucky I didn’t jump because there was already someone in the water with him so we just decided to pull him out.
“I basically put my hand on his stomach and then realised I was too low so put it more to the chest and just pushed down twice. Then he started coughing and we turned him over to the recovery position.”
Emergency services arrived at the scenes within minutes and rushed the man, aged in his 50s, to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
He remains in a critical condition after suffering a suspected heart attack.
Mr Almohaimeed, aged in his 20s, was taken to Alfred Hospital in a semi-conscious state but was discharged shortly afterwards.
Humble Irish hero Mr Grimes added: “The real hero is that guy who jumped in. He just took the basic instinct of running and jumping in.”
