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Leeds man is double rescue hero
GOOD CATCH: Bobby Mensah who rescued angling pal Adie Addy after he fell in the River Ouse at York during a fishing competition. PIC: Tony Johnson
Hero fisherman Bobby Mensah poses happily with his biggest ever catch – best pal Adie Addy.
Bobby, 56, waded in to rescue his friend after Adie slipped from a muddy bank into the sub-zero water during an angling match.
And the former publican seems to have a heroic habit – he appeared in the YEP in 1967 aged just 11, when he helped rescue a man from a burning building in Kirkstall Road.
Bobby and Adie, both from Horsforth, had travelled with their club, Yarnbury Angling Club based at The Old Ball pub, to the River Ouse in York when they had their brush with the deep.
Adie, 42, found his legs caught up in some reeds and he slipped off the muddy bank into the water.
He recalled: “I just leant forward, got caught up in some reeds and slid straight off my box into the river, I was up to my neck because it was fairly deep as I was sliding.
“I am a strong swimmer but the cold took my breath away. It was minus two outside the water, so God knows what it was inside. I was wearing mudboots, my fishing gear and three layers of clothing which was weighing me down. I shouted out ‘Bobby’ then I shouted ‘help’.
“At first he thought I had caught a big fish. Then he realised I was in trouble, came charging down the bank pulled me out to safety. I am definitely the biggest catch he has ever had!”
Adie, who runs a double glazing firm in Leeds, said he went home, had a hot shower, got ready and went back to the fishing contest.
“Unfortunately we had to call the match off early because nobody had got a bite after five hours,” he said. “I really was the catch of the day.”
Bobby said: “I just heard him shout ‘help, Bobby’ and at first I thought he wanted a hand to get a fish in.
“I ran down the very slippery bank and saw Adie in the water.
“I am sure that in 30 years we will be sitting in this pub still talking about it.
“It has bonded us more as friends, we are brothers in arms now.”
Joking about his pal’s childhood heroic exploits, Adie added: “Disaster seems to follow this man around! If he had told me this before, I would never have gone fishing with him.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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