Dramatic moment hero police officer jumps into a freezing canal to rescue a drowning woman

This is the dramatic moment a hero police officer jumped into a canal to rescue a woman found drowning in icy waters.

Officers were called to a leisure complex in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, just before 7.30am on Friday following reports of a woman in the canal.

Body-cam footage captured a courageous officer as he threw off his jacket and dived into the icy waters before pulling the freezing woman to safety.

Officers were called to a leisure complex in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, just before 7.30am on Friday following reports of a woman in the water

The response officer, who wished to remain anonymous, can be heard telling the woman ‘Good girl, come on’ as he paddled her to safety.

He and colleagues on the bank pulled the 22-year-old woman up on the towpath of the canal. She was then sent for a medical assessment.

The 39-year-old West Midlands Police officer then headed home for a shower and to grab his spare uniform – and was back on duty just three hours later to continue his shift.

The officer, who has worked for the force for 12 years, said: ‘The canal is pretty deep and wide at the point she’d entered the water – certainly too deep to stand.

‘The woman wasn’t responding to our commands to swim to the side and, with her clothes heavy with water, I could see she was being dragged under.

‘I knew someone had to act soon so I jumped in to get her.

Body-cam footage captured a courageous officer as he threw off his jacket and dived into the icy waters

Body-cam footage captured a courageous officer as he threw off his jacket and dived into the icy waters

‘Cold would be an understatement – it was absolutely freezing – but thankfully I was only in there for a matter of seconds.

‘I wouldn’t have fancied spending any longer in there.

‘It was our first call for service of the day – an interesting way to start my shift – and I was back on patrol by about 11am having had a shower.

‘I’m pretty sure I still smell of pond water though.’

West Midlands Police Force Incident Manager, Chief Inspector Dave Keen, praised the officer for his heroics.

He said: ‘There’s always the danger of getting into difficulty yourself or going into shock when jumping into very cold water.

The anonymous officer then pulled the 22-year-old woman to the bank of the canal where his colleagues helped remove her from the water

The anonymous officer then pulled the 22-year-old woman to the bank of the canal where his colleagues helped remove her from the water

‘But the officer has bravely acted on instinct, realising the woman was in trouble and in fearing she could drown.

‘As a police officer on a response unit you never know what you’re going to encounter when you start your shift.

‘They are the front line, reacting to 999 calls for service to help people in immediate need and to combat crime.

‘This is a fantastic piece of work from the officer – he may well have saved a life this morning.’

While he has been praised for his quick thinking by senior officers, police have found themselves in trouble for helping those in need in the past.

One officer faced investigation by the Police Ombudsman’s Office in May after she used a CS spray on a group of brawling youths in Newry, Northern Ireland.

The ombudsman said she was too quick to resort to the spray after the group began fighting at a fast food outlet in the city.

The watchdog said the officer had not followed guidance on usage and an investigation was launched after one of those involved was found to be a child, the BBC reported.   

Another Cambridgeshire Police officer was disciplined for misconduct after using a Taser during a domestic incident between October 2016 and March 2017.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said there was ‘no indication that the officer had committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings.’ 

The office did, however, claim there may have been ‘performance issues’ with the officer to consider.

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