Canal puddle led to chain reaction

MY hero . . . Stephanie with Dave

A CYCLIST who tried to avoid a puddle but ended up falling headlong into a canal is wheelie grateful to a kind passer-by who helped her out.

Royton’s Stephanie O’Brien was riding alongside Rochdale Canal, near Boarshaw Lane, at around 8.15am on her way to work as an account manager in Hollinwood.

As she gingerly went around a huge puddle, her tyre skidded — and she went into the murky water with her bike.

Her housemate, who is also her colleague at Met Connect, had sent out a search party, as she knew Stephanie had set off.

Stephanie said: “There wasn’t really anyone around apart from this guy who was walking his dogs. He had joked with me saying I should be able to get down this 8in step on my bike — I had just been walking my bike down it — but I was laughing, saying ‘maybe next time’.

“The next thing I knew I was in the canal and he was coming down to help me. I tried to swim but it was a struggle — not like a swimming pool!”

The rescuer — Dave Milnes, from Langley — went back to the canal later and managed to fish out her bike.

Dave said: “She was absolutely soaking, I wouldn’t have just left her there.

“Later I got a rope and used it as a grappling hook to get her bike out.

“But when I tried to ride it back, the handlebars were all wonky — it’s no wonder she fell off — so I sorted them out before I rode it back to her house.

“She’s a lovely girl and I hope we’ll stay friends — she even bought me four cans of beer for helping her out.”