Dramatic water rescue

Wayne Butcher, a security guard at The Thirsty Whale, West Quay, Napier, helped police rescue a woman who had fallen into the inner harbour. PHOTO/Duncan Brown

A security guard and policeman plunged into freezing waters to rescue a woman who fell off a wharf at West Quay last night.

Wayne Butcher was working as a security guard at the Thirsty Whale on West Quay last night when he noticed the woman leave another neighbouring bar.

Mr Butcher said he believed the woman had sat down on the wharf and then tumbled forward into the water, sometime between 11pm and midnight.

"She was very lucky. I would imagine another minute in that cold water and I don't know what would have happened.

"It must have been about a 6m fall because it was low tide," he said.

Mr Butcher, who works as an animal control officer during the week, said he saw a police car arrive quickly.

"I don't know who called the police, but they arrived quick."

He said he looked over the edge of the wharf and could see the woman "clinging on to a boat rope".

"I could see a police officer in the water holding the woman's head up.

"I slipped off some clothing and just jumped in too," he said.

"It was freaking freezing. As soon as I jumped in, the water zapped all my energy."

Mr Butcher said he helped keep the woman's head above the water while emergency services on the wharf worked out how to get the woman out.

A rope was lowered down to the group and the police officer and Mr Butcher tied it around the woman so she could be winched up to safety.

"She wasn't talking, she was not coherent," he said.

After the woman was safely out of the water, Mr Butcher pulled himself up a nearby boat ladder and climbed to the top of the wharf. The police officer swam to a spot where he could get out of the water safely.

Mr Butcher was suffering hypothermia from the cold water, he said.

"Time went by so fast, but the water was cold ... [in the ambulance] they stripped the clothes off us and put is in a bed that had fan heaters and things to warm me up and raise my body temperature."

He said when he was home about 4am today his body was still shivering.

"I don't know what happened to [the woman], I hope to find out," he said.

Napier police could confirm the incident happened, but said other than a constable assisting with "fishing" someone out of the water, details were "very vague".

Hawke's Bay District Health Board could not provide information on how the woman was doing.

NZME