A Wellington police officer is being hailed as a lifesaver after leaping into the swollen Hutt River to rescue a man who had jumped from a bridge.

Constable Scott McKendry✓ dragged the man's unconscious body to shore after he leapt from the Ewen Bridge in Lower Hutt, shortly before 2pm on Tuesday.

Hutt Valley area commander Inspector Sean Hansen✓said McKendry "quite likely saved that man's life".

When McKendry, who has been a policeman for only three years, got to the bridge, the man was already floating down the river, which was high and fast-flowing after heavy rain.

McKendry raced to the river's edge and could see the man about 10 metres away, moving quickly with the current.

He ran across a railbridge to the opposite riverbank, and he and another officer ran along either side of the river as the man was swept along.

As the man reached the Ava Bridge, almost a kilometre downstream, McKendry made his decision.

"The main priority was getting him out of the water as fast as I could."

He pulled off his stabproof vest. "I jumped in the river and waded out probably about 15 metres and grabbed a hold of him.

"He was towards the centre of the river - it was moving very swiftly. Where I entered, it was about a metre and a half deep."

The man had his eyes open, but closed them as McKendry approached. "From there he wouldn't open his eyes all the way back in.

"It was quite hard trying to keep his head out of the water."

He took the man, who was by that point unconscious, to the riverbank. Fellow police officers helped him haul the man ashore.

McKendry sat with the man and cradled his head.

"He opened his eyes and managed to give a name," McKendry said.

The man was taken to Hutt Hospital for treatment.

Hansen said McKendry had done a "fantastic job".

"We expect our staff to do the right thing, but this officer put himself at considerable risk to save this guy from what ... was probably a high chance of drowning.



"He made a split-second decision and he did something courageous."

"He quite likely saved that man's life."

McKendry described himself as a "casual swimmer" but didn't believe the risk to his own safety outweighed his duty to rescue the man - saying he would do it all over again.

"I would do it again - but it just happened to be that I was first on the scene.

"I'm sure any other police officer would have done the same thing."