Pub hero dives into canal to save man who was drowning
AQUICK-THINKING boxing fan has been labelled a hero after diving into a canal to rescue a drowning man.
Adam Dixon, 22, was out with a group of pals at a city centre pub to watch Anthony Joshua’s big fight against Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday.
While in The Green pub in the Northern Quarter he spotted two men on the banks of the Ashton Canal, which the sports bar on Ducie Street backs on to.
Adam, from High Lane, was playing pool when he noticed one of the figures stagger and fall into the freezing canal.
Adam immediately ran down to the bar’s basement smoking area, which overlooks the canal, dived in fully clothed and swam out to him as those inside the packed bar looked on.
He then pulled the middle-aged man from under the water and took him to the side where some of his other friends helped pull him out of the water.
An ambulance was called and they rushed the man off to hospital.
Insurance worker Adam was cheered and given a round of applause by those in the bar as he returned freezing cold and dripping wet.
He was himself checked over by paramedics for suspected hypothermia.
Friends and staff inside the bar quickly helped get him out of his wet clothes and gave him towels to wrap him in to keep him warm.
His girlfriend then dropped off a change of clothes so he could stay and watch the big fight at Wembley, which Joshua won by knocking out his opponent in the 11th round.
Adam said: “He was completely under the water with his coat hood over his head.
“Walking round would have taken too long, I had to swim out to him. The water was freezing but the adrenalin just kicked in I think.
“When I got to him and pulled him up he was gasping for breath.
“He didn’t say anything and it was as if he was looking straight through me. He’d been under for a while and I think he’d swallowed a fair bit of water.”
Adam has not been able to track down the man, who he believes was homeless, and his condition is not known. He has been showered with praise and labelled a hero by friends and family as well as punters and staff in the bar.
Alan Simpson, manager at The Green, said: “It was a really amazing thing that he did. When he came back in he got a massive cheer and a round of applause.”