'Guardian angel' dog hailed after Nottinghamshire water rescue
BBCTeamwork - including a key contribution by Blinky the dog - helped to save two men from drowning, police said.
Blinky's barking at Farndon Marina, Nottinghamshire, at about 01:00 GMT on Sunday, alerted owners Jacqui and Colin Fearon to a cry for help.
Along with a security guard, Mrs Fearon got one man out of the water while Mr Fearon held on to the other.
Police attended and said later that without the Fearon's prompt help, there could have been fatalities.
Ms Fearon said the pair had been asleep on their boat when Blinky started barking to alert them to a commotion outside.
"When we got round there it was quite a dire situation," she said.
"There was one guy in the water, he was shouting for help, but he was quite coherent.
"He was more concerned about his mate who had also fallen in the water, because he was in quite dire straits."
It is believed one man had slipped on an icy walkway and fallen in, while the other had got into difficulties trying to help.
The pair worked with a marina security guard to help the pair to safety and Ms Fearon described Blinky as a "doggy guardian angel" for raising the alarm.
Mr Fearon said: "To watch my wife and the security guard pull one guy out of the water while I was holding on to the other guy was amazing.
"I was so proud of them - and proud of my dog also because without him we would never have known they were in the water."
Sgt Matthew Burgess, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: "It was a really dangerous situation.
"It was a freezing cold night, the pontoons that everyone was trying to balance on and revive these males on were iced over, it was like a skating rink.
"Without everyone working together I'm quite confident we could easily have been dealing with fatalities."
One of the men was taken to hospital with suspected hypothermia but both are expected to make a full recovery.
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