Passer-by pulls man out of Foyle

Chris Peters and another passer-by rescued the man from the Foyle

A man has been rescued from the River Foyle by a passer-by.

Chris Peters was on his way to visit his parents near Derry City Council's offices on Thursday evening when he spotted the man in the water.

"I started to run automatically to get a life ring, and then me and another man pulled him out and put him in the recovery position," he said.

The man was treated by paramedics at the scene and was taken to Altnagelvin hospital as a precaution.

Mr Peters said he reacted instinctively.

"I started to run towards him but he was too far away to throw the life ring so I had to jump over the gate and run up the length of the jetty to get to him.

"Another guy was running towards him but the man was under the jetty at this point and I couldn't see him.

"He'd got him halfway and between us we managed to pull him out and put him into the recovery position.

"He was freezing cold and couldn't speak when we pulled him out, but I'm just glad he was okay.

"It didn't look as if he could have held on for much longer," he said.

Mistaken identity

Mr Peters' mother had called the police, who arrived on the scene with the paramedics.

"I'd thrown down my jacket as I ran," he said, "and when I got back to it I had a message on my phone from my mother.

"She was watching it from her balcony, and rang to say that everything was alright because someone was running down the jetty towards the man in the water.

"She didn't realise it had been me running along," he laughed.