Faced with the fury of nature, Rick Petecki was glad his wife had made him wear his vest.

With the beautiful River Derwent swollen to six feet above the gauge and the salmon running, it promised to be a challenging afternoon’s fishing.

And so it would have been, had businessman Rick Petecki not suddenly lost his footing and pitched headlong into the speeding waters of Crosby Pool.

What followed was a murderous three-quarter mile helter-skelter in the unbreakable grip of the torrent, far outstripping those sprinting in horror along the bank.

Rick careered helplessly through the deep and rocky Styanns Pool, racing on into Greenhouses, passing the fishing hut, plunging down into Dam Pool, his limbs now stiffening ominously with the cold, through Mill Pool and on into Mill Stream where, mercifully, river keeper Tony Skillen was fishing.

Hastily stripping off his waders, Tony dived in and, summoning all his considerable strength as a swimmer, managed to drag the stricken angler to the bank at Lambscar Pool.

There, willing hands were able to haul the two to safety.

The fact that Rick was still alive to rescue was down to a gift from his wife which, fatefully, she had made him promise always to wear while fishing.

The Hardy Lifesaver may look like a fishing vest, but when plunged in the water it inflates automatically , turning the wearer face up within five seconds.

‘Without that,’ observed Tony Skillen, ‘he would have been a dead man.’

And so the drama ended.

Quite rightly, the modest river keeper has been widely hailed as a hero.

As for Rick Petecki’s Hardy Lifesaver well, frankly, it did no more than we would have expected of it.

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