Man who helped rescue woman on Wellington waterfront describes ordeal

James Copsey said he was walking along the waterfront with his friend, Ashleigh Brown, when they heard the screams. Photo / Supplied

One of the rescuers who helped pull a woman out of the water on Wellington's waterfront in the early hours of Saturday said he didn't expect the story to "blow up".

James Copsey was visiting from Auckland and walking along the capital's waterfront area with friend Ashleigh Brown when they began to hear "weird screaming noises".

It was just past midnight, and Lower Hutt woman Courtney Beck had fallen into the water near the Wellington diving board after becoming separated from her friends on a night out in the city.

The 21-year-old had been out clubbing when she decided she wanted to look at the water, she told the Herald.

Instead, she ended up in it, hitting her head on a beam as she fell an estimated two or three metres.

"I'm lucky I didn't get knocked out. I went under for a minute, and I didn't know which way was up."

She was in the water for about 10 minutes before Copsey and Brown heard her cries for help.

Copsey said it was difficult to tell where Beck's screams were coming from, as they were "echoing" around in the dark.

Courtney Beck, pictured with her boyfriend Terry Tahurangi, thought she was going to die after she fell into the water off Wellington Wharf while on a night out. Photo / Supplied

He climbed onto a nearby boat and spotted Beck in the water, clinging to a sharp, shell-covered beam.

Beck, who is afraid of deep water, cut her hands on the shells as the weight of her boots and jacket threatened to pull her down.

"I climbed down by the water . . . I couldn't reach her though," Copsey said.

He and Brown talked to Beck to keep her calm, and encouraged her to swim a short distance to a nearby ladder.

But the ladder does not extend all the way into the water, and Beck could not pull herself up to get her feet on the bottom rung.

Copsey tried to pull her up, but was unable to get her out of the water.

It was then that Brown stripped off her dress and leaped into the frigid water so she could help hoist Beck up far enough that Copsey could pull her out.

The pair gave Beck some dry clothes to wear and took her to the nearby McDonald's for a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows as they waited for Beck's mother to come and pick her up.

Copsey said he would like to think someone else would have come to Beck's rescue if they hadn't been there, but said it had been difficult to locate her in the water.

"It was lucky that we decided to investigate," he said.

Beck shared a post on popular community Facebook page Vic Deals thanking the pair for their heroic actions.

Copsey said it was "funny" as he hadn't expected news of the rescue to "blow up like this".

"I'm literally just down here for the weekend ... It's a great story, I'm looking forward to telling my mates about it."

He and Brown were both "good in a crisis" and he was full of praise for Brown's quick thinking and ability to keep Beck calm.

Beck told the Herald Brown was "an angel, literally".

"I've never loved life so much [as in that moment]."

The Herald has contacted Brown for comment.