Fosterville Mine engineers Jeff Norris and Ashley Rodgers had just finished a five-kilometre run around Lake Weeroona when they heard a scream for help.
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A man, in his 20s, had fallen into Bendigo Creek while walking his dog on Thursday afternoon.
Heavy rainfall had added volume and speed to the creek, which carried the man and his dog some distance.
“He had been in the water for a while,” Mr Norris said.
“We got him just before where [the creek] goes under the bridge at Lake Weeroona.”
Ahead of them was the toilet block. Behind them was what Mr Norris described as a particularly turbulent patch of creek water.
He said it was lucky he and Mr Rodgers got the man out when they did.
“We ran to the water and he [the man] was in a bad way, he couldn’t get out of the water,” Mr Norris said.
“We reached in from the side and grabbed his arm.”
The pair reassured the man they were there to help, and steadied him against the side of the creek’s concrete walls “so he could rest a bit.”
He and Mr Rodgers then dragged the man out of the water and up the creek bank, to safety.
Mr Norris said the man and his dog seemed okay once they were no longer in the water – they were “just freezing cold.”
The pair called an ambulance, just in case.
The man was transported to Bendigo Health in a stable condition, and was discharged overnight.
Mr Norris said he and Mr Rodgers had only recently started running around Lake Weeroona.
A friend had persuaded them to participate in this year’s Melbourne Marathon.
Mr Norris and Mr Rodgers decided this week to start training for the event.
Mr Norris said they almost decided against going for a run that night, on account of the rain.
The two work friends started running just after 6pm, and heard the man’s screams about 45 minutes later.
“If someone’s screaming out, you’d want to help,” Mr Norris said.
He believed anybody would have done what they did to assist somebody in distress.
The runners were concerned about the man they had assisted, who they believed was the father of a young child.
They were keen to learn about the man’s welfare and hoped he was well.