Hero Dave rescues trapped terrier (From Leigh Journal)

Hero Dave rescues trapped terrier

10:37am Wednesday 13th January 2010 in

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TAXI boss Dave Rowland plunged fully clothed into the freezing flash to save a drowning terrier.

The little dog which had been chasing swans had fallen through the ice at Pennington and was unable to swim back to shore.

Dave, 56, owner of JR Taxis and a growing Leigh club, pub and restaurant empire, had taken his own pet collie for a rare walk at the flash when he spotted the pup in trouble.

Watched by a crowd of onlookers he waded to neck height through the ice to grab the dog and bring it to safety.

He said: “It was an impulse thing, but it had to be done. There is no way as a dog lover I could stand by and watch a puppy drown.

“It happened about 4pm last Tuesday when the weather was at its worst. I had taken my dog to the flash for the first time in about six months.

“I usually go to Leigh Golf Club at Culcheth for a daily walk, but it was fate that took me to the flash.

“I got out of the car and a woman was screaming her head off. She was up to her knees in the water and it was obvious she was going to try and go in. I asked the warden how deep it was there and when told it was five feet I waded in – and lost my phone.

“I didn’t feel the cold until I came out, then I hurried home to strip off and get warm in front of the fire, leaving everyone else to look after the dog and its owner.

“I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I reached the dog which had gone under a few times and saved its life. It could see me coming and when I stretched my hand out it wrapped its paws round it.

Dave has recently opened a new Rowland’s steak house on Leigh Road and turned the Ellesmere into a specialist rugby pub for Leigh players and fans.

Witness to the rescue, Janet Freeman, of Swallowfields, Leigh, said: “Dave was a real hero.”