EVERYDAY HEROES: Senior Constable Mal Lee and Senior Constable Nick Harlin, who rescued a man in the Swan River. Picture: Kerris Berrington Source: PerthNow
GOOD JOB: Senior Constable Mal Lee and Senior Constable Nick Harlin. Picture: Kerris Berrington Source: PerthNow
RESCUE: A car is removed from the Swan River near Barrack Street Jetty by police and emergency services. Picture: Kerris Berrington Source: PerthNow
TWO police officers who dived into the Swan River to save a man from his submerged car have spoken of their frantic moments trying to free him.
Senior Constable Mal Lee and Senior Constable Nick Harlin were on patrol on Scarborough Beach Road, North Perth, about 10.40am yesterday when they received the report that a car had crashed into the river, just metres away from the Aquatic Super Series open water swimming event.
After driving under priority to Barrack Street Jetty, the pair were told a white Hyundai sedan had been deliberately driven through a temporary fence before hitting rocks at the water's edge.
The vehicle became airborne and crashed into the river.
"When we got there, there was nothing really to be seen," Sen Const Harlin said.
"We asked where's the car, and people pointed into the water. We saw some bubbles come up about 10m from the shore and 5m from the jetty. So we looked at each other and thought, 'we're going in'."
Witnesses had reported seeing a man drive the sedan along a footpath before the incident, where he stopped the vehicle and removed some personal items, including an empty jerry can, before getting back in the car and driving into the water.
The driver was seen to tread water as the car sank, but then swam back under and into his car.
The two police officers knew the man had been underwater for several minutes, and stripped off their clothes to dive in and rescue him.
"We couldn't really see anything but we managed to stand on the roof of the car and then it was a case of duck diving down and feeling around," Sen Const Harlin told reporters.
"After trying one side of the vehicle through an open window and not feeling anything, we swam around to the other side and did the same again. That's when I felt something, so I dived down again and gave a big pull and fortunately managed to get hold of the t-shirt of the chap and pulled him to the surface."
The officers pulled the unconscious man to the jetty, where waiting paramedics performed CPR before he was rushed to hospital.
But the big concern was whether more people were trapped in the vehicle up to four metres below the surface.
"Even once we got the chap out and he was being worked on on the jetty, we kept diving back down again and again trying to clear the car," Sen Const Harlin said.
"After a few minutes the Water Police got there with diving equipment and they were able to...confirm there was nobody else in the car."
The two officers, who received a few scratches in the rescue, shrugged off praise for their heroic actions, saying it was all in a day's work.
"Every day there are a lot of boys and girls wearing uniform who go out and put themselves in situations of risk," Sen Const Harlin said.
"It's just what we do."
Sen Const Lee said though he and his colleage were traffic officers, it was not his first time rescuing a person. He pulled a man from a fiery car crash after a high speed chase in the 1990s.
"It's just our everyday job that we got out and we do what we're asked to do," Sen Const Lee said.
"All we can say is that we saved a person and we hope that he does survive."
The 30-year-old Yokine man remains in a critical condition in intensive care at Royal Perth Hospital.
Police have not yet named the man and are attempting to notify his family, who live overseas.
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