Hero dockmaster who saved baby from icy water: It was just instinct

A dockmaster who dived into a freezing marina to save a baby after the boy’s buggy was blown over a quayside has downplayed his involvement in the dramatic rescue, saying: ‘Most people would do the same thing.’

George Reeder said he didn’t think twice about plunging into the water at Watchet Harbour, Somerset, after seeing the pushchair upturned in the waves, adding in an interview with Sky News that he acted on instinct.

He pulled the buggy to the quay where he tied a rope to it so another bystander could haul it on to dry land – but not before the six-month-old baby had spent five minutes underwater.

The boy was given CPR by another passer-by before being airlifted to hospital, where he is recovering.

Mr Reeder was walking home when he heard screams from 200m away and thought a dog had fallen into the harbour.

However, the child had been blown into the water when his mother let go of the buggy.

Flood warnings remain in place in the UK (Picture: PA/File)

Mr Reeder, 63, said: ‘The mother was there and she said: “My baby has gone in the water.”

‘So I went to the edge and I could see the pushchair upside down, floating away. I just jumped in and pulled the pushchair back over to the edge of the quay.’

He said it was amazing the baby survived falling into the 3m deep, ice-cold water.

‘You could see his little mouth opening and taking in a breath and that’s when I thought: “It’s OK, he’s going to be OK”,’ he added.

The rescue came amid a string of accidents as heavy rain and high winds battered Britain.

Some 79 flood warnings are in place across England and Wales as thawing snow and heavy rain inundated rivers.