Man treated for hypothermia after early hours rescue from Wigan river

A Newtown Asda employee arriving for work heard the 35-year-old’s cries for help coming from the nearby waterway and, while he couldn’t see the victim, immediately rang 999.

The man had entered the water close to the Saddle junction at around 5am on Friday December 22 and two crews from the nearby fire station were very quickly on the scene and were soon to be joined by the technical response unit from Leigh and the water incident unit from Eccles as well as police and an ambulance.

Watch manager Mike Fairhurst said: “The man had been in the water for maybe 10 to 15 minutes when we got the call and the hypothermia was preventing him from getting out.

"There were only certain entry points into the water and so personnel entered the waist-deep water and waded down to him and then brought him back.

"He was conscious throughout but quite unresponsive at first. As soon as he was out he was handed over to the North West Ambulance Service for treatment and was then taken to Wigan Infirmary.

"We don’t know how he came to be in the water. We carried out further searches of the area just in case anyone else had entered the water but did not find anything.”

The incident was closed after about an hour.