A Fijian man who rescued a swimmer in distress in England is being labelled a hero by witnesses.
Jerry Cataki was on his daily morning run around the Edgbaston Reservoir in Birmingham last Thursday when he was alerted to the swimmer’s predicament.
“I came across a man who was trying to get a lifebuoy out of its housing, he told me two swimmers were in serious trouble in the water and one of them appeared to be drowning,” Mr Cataki said, speaking to The Fiji Times from Birmingham.
“So I got the lifebuoy out and ran towards the two.
“The young woman was struggling but was making progress in trying to get back to shore.
“The gentlman appeared to be drowning.
“I called out to him but he didn’t respond, he looked directly at me and then his head went under water.
“I threw the buoy towards him and realised he didn’t have enough energy to swim towards it.
“A woman on the banks next to me said ‘he’s gone’.
“I didn’t think twice, just took off my trainers and swam as fast as I could for 15m to reach him.
“I grabbed the buoy, pulled his head out of the water and put it through the buoy.
“Once I knew he was safe and secure, I checked to see if he was breathing and got him to rescuers at the banks.”
Mr Cataki, who hails from Rukuruku, Ovalau, was born and raised in Wayavi, Lautoka.
The 40-year-old joined the British Army and served with the Irish Rangers from 2003 to 2017.
He now makes a living as an overhead lines engineer in the British rail industry.
He is married and has one daughter.
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