Hawke's Bay policeman who rescued woman from icy waters says it was 'only part of the job'

Constable Duane Coffin was on duty when the call came in. Photo / Glenn Taylor

A modest Hawke's Bay policeman who helped rescue a woman from icy waters at the Port of Napier on Saturday night says it was "only part of the job".

Constable Duane Coffin was on duty when a call came in around 11pm, that a young woman had fallen from the wharf along West Quay in Ahuriri.

Police said the woman had apparently been sitting on the wharf, leaned forward and fell into the water.

Mr Coffin said he and his partner raced to the scene and arrived to find the woman clinging on to a rope attached to a boat with one hand and her eyes closed.

He said he took off his stab resistant vest and jumped on to the roof of a fishing boat to try to reach her.

When he realised the woman was too far away from the boat he plunged almost 5m into the water.

"It was absolutely freezing - I didn't bother to take my boots or my uniform off and jumped straight in.

"I swam around to where she was next to the pier and held her head above the water. She was unresponsive and I was treading water trying to hold her up."

Mr Coffin was joined in the water by security guard Wayne Butcher, who helped keep the woman afloat.

Wayne Butcher jumped from the wharf in Napier to help police rescue a woman. Photo / NZME

Speaking to NZME News Service yesterday, Mr Butcher said he looked over the edge of the wharf and could see the woman "clinging on to a boat rope".

"I could see a police officer in the water holding the woman's head up. I slipped off some clothing and just jumped in too," he said.

"It was freaking freezing. As soon as I jumped in, the water zapped all my energy."

Mr Coffin said a colleague threw a life ring into the water and another person threw a rope which was used to help secure the woman.

"She was able to be hauled out of the water and I swam to another fishing boat nearby and climbed up the ladder."

He said after he was pulled from the water he was treated by ambulance staff for mild hypothermia.

He then went home to change into a dry uniform, "had a feed of maccas" and continued working for the rest of his shift.

Mr Coffin said the rescue was "only part of the job".

"We do this sort of thing almost every day - it's nothing special. Anyone else would have done the same and when you see someone in danger, you want to help."

The woman was treated at Hawke's Bay Hospital for hypothermia and was discharged later in the night.

Police said she had been drinking before she fell into the water.

Mr Butcher also suffered from hypothermia from the cold water.

"Time went by so fast, but the water was cold ... [in the ambulance] they stripped the clothes off us and put us in a bed that had fan heaters and things to warm me up and raise my body temperature," Mr Butcher said.

He said that when he got home about 4am yesterday his body was still shivering.