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Snore blimey! Michael's a hero
A Wigan hero believes his snoring could have saved the life of a drowning man.
Michael Biggar, who lives in an apartment complex backing onto the Leeds-Liverpool canal in Standish Lower Ground, was woken up by his frantic girlfriend who was sleeping in the bedroom closest to the canal because of Michael's snoring, after hearing desperate cries for help.
The 35-year-old salesman, who only had time to don his dressing gown before rushing outside, managed, in the pitch black, to find the 30-year-old victim and haul him to safety with the help of a broom handle.
Medical experts said he would have died within minutes without Michael's help.
The hero said: "If he has been in there for another five to 10 minutes then it would have been too late.
"I don't know the man's name or how he is doing at the moment but I can't help but think that if it hadn't of been for my snoring he would have died."
"It's just as well that I decided to stay in - I was supposed to be going out on the town with my friends to watch the Ricky Hatton fight."
Michael and his partner Sharon Nield usually sleep together in the front room, but that night Sharon decided to sleep in the back room because of Michael's nasal noise.
At around 3.30am on Sunday Sharon began to hear cries for help coming from outside and then woke Michael.
He said: "I walked into the room but there was no sound coming from outside. But then I heard a voice crying out saying "Help me, help me, I've fallen into the canal.
"I raced downstairs in my dressing gown and began calling out to see where the man was.
"He had slipped from the towpath and down a four foot drop into the canal.
"I then ran back upstairs, called the emergency services, grabbed some towels and a brush, which I thought I could use to pull him out, and ran down to the canal over the nearest bridge and up the towpath."
When Michael approached the spot where the man had fallen in he began to fear the worst as he could not hear him shouting for help.
He said: "I thought that he was dead, I must admit.
"I kept shouting out but there was no reply.
"Then, to my relief, I heard some splashing in the water and I managed to see him, despite it being pitch black."
Michael managed to reach down and pull the man out.
He had been in the freezing cold water for more than 10 minutes.
"He was blue and couldn't stop shaking as I smothered him with the towels I had brought," said Michael, a car salesman for Audi in Warrington.
The man told Michael that he had had a few drinks during a night out and had lost his footing on the way home.
An ambulance arrived and took him to Wigan Infirmary."He had slipped from the towpath and down a four foot drop into the canal.
"I then ran back upstairs, called the emergency services, grabbed some towels and a brush, which I thought I could use to pull him out, and ran down to the canal over the nearest bridge and up the towpath."
When Michael approached the spot where the man had fallen in he began to fear the worst as he could not hear him shouting for help.
He said: "I thought that he was dead, I must admit.
"I kept shouting out but there was no reply.
"Then, to my relief, I heard some splashing in the water and I managed to see him, despite it being pitch black."
Michael managed to reach down and pull the man out.
He had been in the freezing cold water for more than 10 minutes.
"He was blue and couldn't stop shaking as I smothered him with the towels I had brought," said Michael, a car salesman for Audi in Warrington.
The man told Michael that he had had a few drinks during a night out and had lost his footing on the way home.
An ambulance arrived and took him to Wigan Infirmary.
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Weather for Wigan
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
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Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
