Woman leaps into canal to save baby in pushchair

Lisa Peck said: "I did it because it was a natural thing to do"

A woman helped to save a baby's life by jumping into a canal after a pushchair rolled into the water.

Lisa Peck said she and her husband had been walking near Leicester's Grand Union Canal on Tuesday when they stopped to talk to a mother whose toddler wanted to stroke their dogs.

The pushchair with a baby in rolled into the water and the mother jumped in after it.

Mrs Peck followed and the pair lifted it to the surface while treading water.

It happened on the stretch of the canal near Bede Park and Mill Lane

Mrs Peck, from Aylestone, said she was walking home with her husband Barry after meeting him at work in Leicester when they saw the woman feeding ducks with her daughter, who looked about two.

"Her little girl wanted to stroke our dogs," she said.

"[The woman] went to grab her two-year-old and must have just let go of the pushchair but it was right next to her and I saw it rolling in.

"I initially thought is that just a pushchair with shopping on?

"The lady was shouting 'my baby, my baby'. I thought I have got to help her."

Mrs Peck said rescuing the baby was "quite overwhelming really"

Mrs Peck, who is mother to a daughter and two step-daughters, said she "did not think twice" before jumping in.

She said the woman was "screaming and horrified" and they could see the fear in her eyes.

The 53-year-old added: "The sheer weight of the pushchair was like trying to lift a rock. We were treading water and trying to lift it up."

She said they managed to bring the pushchair to the surface but it went under again, which is when she knew there was definitely a baby inside and "the panic kicked in".

"I thought 'oh my God I have got to make sure this baby is going to be OK'."

'Freak accident'

Mrs Peck and the mother managed to bring the pushchair to the surface again and Mr Peck got hold of its handle.

She said: "Because of the weight, he could not lift it out then everyone was there all-of-a-sudden helping - they helped pull the pushchair out."

She said the ambulance came and before the mother left she mouthed "thank you" to her.

Mrs Peck, who co-owns a company with her husband, said: "It was just a freak accident that could have happened to anyone."

Mrs Peck said her husband had been told by the hospital that the baby - who she described as "grey" after the rescue - was doing OK.

East Midlands Ambulance Service said it was called at 18:00 BST to the Grand Union Canal.

It said: "The caller reported a medical emergency. We sent a paramedic in a fast response car and two crewed ambulances.

"Two patients were taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary via crewed ambulance."