Paramedic Jumps Into Frigid Hudson River To Save Man, FDNY Says

TRIBECA, NY — A heroic paramedic jumped into the frigid Hudson River on Saturday to rescue a man who was loosing consciousness in the freezing waters, authorities said.

Niall O'Shaughnessy, a rescue paramedic for the FDNY, submerged himself in the river's frigid waters on Saturday afternoon when he saw someone in crisis, the fire department said. O'Shaughnessy said he and his partner, Mingze Wu, were driving north on the West Side Highway on Saturday at about 3 p.m. when they noticed police officers near the river's edge at Harrison Street. The two said they decided to stop to see if they could help the officers, and realized they were trying to rescue a man who was trapped into the freezing waters. Officers had tossed the struggling man a flotation device but he was too cold to hold on to it, O'Shaughnessy said.

The average temperature on Saturday in New York was a frigid 20 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

"They [the patient] were hanging onto it but when I got there, NYPD said they were losing consciousness and were starting to slip off the life ring," O'Shaughnessy said in a statement. "So I knew immediately that they were probably going to slip away from the life ring and go under water."

O'Shaughnessy took off his equipment and boots and jumped into the water. He put his arms around the man in the water and helped to push him back onto the life ring, authorities said.

"About 30 seconds in, it was getting very cold, and I could feel the hypothermia setting in," O'Shaughnessy said. "It’s a cold day to jump in the water, I wouldn’t advise it."

O'Shaughnessy, 40, managed to to pass off the patient to the NYPD's harbor unit before climbing out of the water.

An NYPD spokesman said the man was transported to a nearby hospital after the rescue. It was unclear how the man came to be in the water, the spokesman said.

"I was just a civilian today," O'Shaughnessy told the New York Post about his icy swim. "I wouldn’t say I was a rescuer. He just needed a little help."

Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPD on Twitter