A Dundee teenager turned into a hero within hours of arriving in Wales for a holiday – after diving into a lake to rescue a drowning dog belonging to a disabled woman.
Connor Telford was visiting Penllergare Valley Woods on Monday afternoon when a seven-year-old Shih-Tzu named Charlie became tangled in thick reeds, after going into the water to chase some ducks.
Connor, 17, kicked off his trainers and dived in to save the stricken pooch.
Owner Jane Warner, from Glais, said: “It was only the second time I’d taken Charlie to Penllergare Valley Woods, and the first time around he’d shown no interest in the ducks whatsoever.
“But on this occasion, he jumped in the lake to paddle after them, but I knew he had no chance of catching any – those birds were giving him the proper runaround.”
After a few minutes, however, Jane, 50, a former accounts manager, started noticing something was wrong.
“Charlie was going further and further out and was getting stuck in the reeds. You could see he was struggling to stay afloat,” she said.
“I’m disabled, so there was no way I could’ve swum out to get him. Which just left me standing there helpless on the bank thinking, ‘What the hell do I do now’?”
Luckily Connor, his girlfriend Grace and her mother Shelagh Creegan, who’d just begun a week-long holiday from Dundee in nearby Mumbles, had seen what was happening.
“Before I knew what was going on Connor had dived in,” said Jane.
“By which time there was no sign of Charlie at all – he’d gone completely under.
‘Had he not got right to him he’d have died’
“So I’ve no doubt in my mind that had Connor not got right to him then he’d have died.
“And the poor lad himself was also quite shaken up afterwards. I think it had been a tougher swim than he’d expected and I’m really grateful to him for risking his own safety the way he did.”
In too much shock at the time to take his details, Jane tracked down Connor later that day via social media, describing his daring rescue – a post which has since been shared thousands of times by others keen to congratulate Connor for coming to Charlie’s aid.
Connor’s girlfriend’s mum Shelagh said: “This was the first day of Connor’s first-ever trip to Wales – and, oh my goodness, what a day it turned out to be.
“He’s not a strong swimmer but launched himself headfirst into the lake with no thought for his own safety.
“He came out bedraggled, visibly shaken and was physically sick – but he’s recovering well from his ordeal.
“Turns out Joe’s ice cream in Swansea is as good if not better than Visocchi’s ice cream from Broughty Ferry, and he felt a lot better after eating a tub of it.”
