A man has been hailed for his bravery after jumping into the Bridgewater Canal to save an elderly woman who appeared to be drowning. Czeslaw Sekrecki, 62, jumped into the "freezing cold" water without a second thought after noticing the woman, who was in her 80s, "topple" into the stretch of the canal in Eccles.
His daughter, Edyta Sliwinska said her dad, who is Polish and doesn't speak much English, was able to rescue the woman and pull to her to the shore as emergency services arrived.
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Both Mr Sekrecki and the woman were seen to by paramedics, with the woman being taken to hospital where it is understood she was treated for shock.
Edyta and her partner have praised her father's "heroic" actions as Mr Sekrecki admitted he also feared he would drown after realising how deep and the cold water was.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , she said: "At around 9.30am my dad went for a walk along the canal. He works shifts from 2pm until 10pm so likes to get out and go for a walk in the morning with a coffee.
"He was sitting on a bench and talking to his mum on the phone when he noticed an elderly woman leaning towards the water. She toppled in and my dad started screaming. He jumped in the water and the woman was face down and looked like she was drowning.
"When he entered the water he realised how deep the canal was and it was freezing cold so he himself thought he might drown as well. He couldn’t stand up in the water because it was quite deep but he managed to pull her out."
Edyta said her partner rushed to the scene near Liverpool Road to help her father translate what had happened to the police. She claims that shortly after police arrived, the elderly woman's son did too.
"Soon after the police came and paramedics started looking after the lady who was then taken to hospital," she said. My dad was given some help as well because he was really cold. When they took his statement the woman's son arrived and thanked him for saving his mum. My dad is a hero."
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police confirmed they were called to reports of a woman in the water but added that she was out of the canal by the time they arrived. It's understood the woman was taken to hospital and treated for shock.
In a statement, NWAS said: "We received a 999 call reporting a patient in the water at 09.12am on Tuesday (May 3). A woman in her 80s was taken to hospital."
