A Melbourne man should probably buy himself a lottery ticket after he was rescued from the Yarra River late last night with minor cuts and bruises – a result of falling into the city’s dividing river in efforts to blindly chase his two dogs, that had gotten away from him.
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The 35-year-old man was walking his two pups last night with his partner near Heidelberg, when the dogs escaped his grip and took off. During the pursuit, the man apparently lost his footing, slipped over, and fell a solid 30 metres down an embankment and into the Yarra River.
Extremely not how you want to start your 2019, folks.
The man’s partner called emergency services, and local fire rescue crews found the man in the water, clinging onto a log for dear life.
Rescue teams had to use a harness and winch to get the man back up onto dry ground, and man’s partner and his dogs were also in need of rescuing by authorities after they had followed the man down the riverbank and could not get back up to safety.
ABC reports that the Metropolitan Fire Brigade incident controller Brett Cowcher said the man was lucky to have gotten away with some minor cuts and scrapes, as the considerable fall could have caused some serious damage.
Considering it was quite dark and my understanding is he had no lights so he wasn’t expecting the ledge to be there.
It wasn’t a straight drop but it was a very steep angle, approximately 45 degrees or more.
How far would you go to save a pet?
A Melbourne man has tumbled almost 30 metres down an embankment into the Yarra River overnight after he chased after his two runaway dogs.https://t.co/eCfdUqNdOD pic.twitter.com/u4MRZfhVlQ— ABC Melbourne (@abcmelbourne) January 7, 2019
That dog simply does not care for the fact that its human risked life and limb to stop it from running off into the night. Look at that face. Probably just wondering when they can go home for treats and bed.
Despite getting a bit cold and soggy, and having his pride probably bruised a fair bit in the process, the 35-year-old man was placed into the care of paramedics on the scene.
