Drama in choppy waters as patrolman’s quick wit saves woman
GEORGE TOWN: It was a MacGyver moment on the second Penang bridge when an auxiliary policeman, seeing a woman struggling in the waters below, emptied a five-litre jerrycan, tied it to his waist as an emergency flotation device and rappelled down.
Luckily, the jerrycan was enough to keep the woman afloat until a fishing boat came to rescue them.
Bridge patrolman Zaidi Salleh, 52, had lashed the container to his waist belt and tied a car-towing strap to a lamp post on the bridge as the woman screamed for help and floated away.
He slid down the towing strap to get closer to the water before diving feet first into the sea and swam to the woman.
Upon reaching the woman, the current swept them away after 15 minutes in the water as they waited for assistance.
Zaidi’s quick thinking to use the jerrycan helped him keep the woman and himself afloat until the boat came.
Zaidi, who was once attached to Handau (Royal Malaysian Air Force Ground Defence Regiment), said he was relieved upon seeing a fisherman’s boat coming their way after 40 minutes in the water.
“At first we were both holding on to the jerrycan but it could not support both of us.
“I decided to give the jerrycan to the woman as she was crying and tense.
“I had to stay afloat on my own. I told her to stay strong and life is precious,” he said.
Zaidi’s immediate superior, Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB) traffic safety manager Zaini Hashim, said Zaidi and his partner Mohammad Fitri Abu Bakar were in the second unit responding to the emergency after patrolman Megat Taufik Megat Kamaruddin first spotted the 28-year-old woman’s empty car on the bridge at about 11am yesterday.
“The jerrycan is usually filled with water to help drivers with overheated cars while the towing strap is also for helping motorists,” said Zaini.
In a two-and-a-half minute video taken by a fisherman and posted on Facebook, the boat crew is seen searching for Zaidi and the woman as they drifted into open water.
The woman, clad in a black tudung, black trousers and a black and white blouse, is heard crying uncontrollably while muttering “tak mahu balik” (I don’t want to go back) repeatedly as she is being pulled up onto the boat.
Zaidi looks visibly exhausted after being hauled on board, his jerrycan still lashed to his waist.
JKSB corporate communications deputy senior manager Azizi Azizan said Zaidi, a father of three, was formerly a serviceman in the Royal Malaysian Air Force and a licensed scuba diver.
“Using the jerrycan is not our standard procedure. Zaidi just thought it up on the spur of the moment,” Azizi said, adding that the patrolman was recovering and helping with police investigations.