Ainsley Chapman just wanted to feed the geese and ducks. He does it every day.

He didn’t know the mud was so deep or the water so cold.

When Evan Spindler, 15, saw Chapman perched on a picnic table, surrounded by 60-­centimetre-deep water, his partially-submerged wheelchair beside him, he sprang into action.

“I grabbed my boots and my rain jacket and ran,” Spindler said Wednesday, a day after helping Chapman in a rescue that police and fire crews call heroic.

Spindler lives with his family on the west side of the Thames River, roughly midway between Blackfriars Bridge and the Queens Ave. bridge.

Chapman, 22, had been feeding ducks on the east bank of the river when his wheelchair slid into deep, cold water of the swollen river. He managed to get out of his wheelchair and onto a picnic table. “I felt like Jack Dawson from Titanic,” he said.

Spindler, who is training to become a lifeguard, called to a family friend to call 911.

As Chapman sat, his feet wet and cold, willing his legs to warm up and thinking of a way out of his predicament, Spindler ran to Blackfriars Bridge and down a flooded path toward him.

“I just thought, if someone’s in trouble you might as well help them out,” said Spindler, a Grade 10 student at Banting secondary school. “I feel like I was doing what anyone else would have done. I’m surprised it’s getting this much attention.”

The modest teen has caught the attention of the rescue crews. When they got there, Spindler had already helped Chapman back into his wheelchair and onto dry land.

“I applaud the efforts of this young man who had the wherewithal to go to this man and help him out,” said London police Chief Brad Duncan.

“He did a super job, he did it safely for himself and for the man in the wheelchair and I think he should be congratulated.”

Fire Platoon Chief Jeff Adams, who was at the scene, said Chapman could have gotten hypothermia had he been in the water longer.

“It certainly was a life-­threatening situation for him,” Adams said. “I commend (Spindler) in the highest degree. I’m proud of him. Thank God Evan was there, that’s all I can say.”

Spindler’s name will be put forward for consideration for an official police commendation.

Chapman, who has cerebral palsy, returned Wednesday to the spot where he got in trouble to look for his lost sunglasses . The water had receded significantly.

“I didn’t think the water was that deep. My chair was in the water, my legs were cold,” Chapman said as geese and ducks ate bird seed from his hand.

“I come here every day. The geese and ducks know me. And the swan, when he’s around.”

Chapman said he didn’t mean to cause a fuss.

“It’s nice that people care. I’m glad there’s good citizens out there,” he said. “The geese sure didn’t care. They just wanted to eat.”

kate.dubinski@sunmedia.ca

Twitter.com/KateatLFPress