A dog lover has explained how he rescued a distressed pooch from the River Wensum, leaving the scene needing stitches in his eyebrow.
Reece Taylor was heading to Morrisons at around 6.30am on Thursday when he saw a distressed couple on the phone at the Foundry Bridge.
Mr Taylor, 27, recalled: "I could hear the man saying: "Please help, my dog is going to drown".
"I looked into the river but I couldn't even see the dog because it was underwater.
"Growing up my mum was a bit of a Dr Dolittle so a number of different dogs, rabbits and cats would come stay with us.
"So I stripped down to my undies and left my bike."
The city centre man - who works as a Deliveroo rider and a part-time chef at The Whalebone - managed to help lift a two-year-old Italian cane corso Bentley on to the side of a boat moored at the Norwich Yacht Station.
Bentley - who weighs 60 kilos - belongs to Cambridgeshire couple Jade Lanigan and Jacob Williams who were on a boating holiday in the city with their 11-year-old son Jamie.
Mr Taylor said: "We managed to get a rope around his neck and after a couple of attempts managed to hoick him into the boat with Jade above water.
"I had been bitten because Bentley was in so much distress. I didn't realise the full extent until I got out of the water and looked at my face."
Mr Taylor went straight to the walk-in centre and was told to head to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where a surgeon put stiches in his right eyebrow.
He said: "If I had cycled past and saw the dog drown in the river I would never have been able to live with myself knowing I could have helped. I don't regret it.
"I was confident in my ability to swim and I do not blame Bentley for the stitches. He was distressed and flailing around in the water.
"He would have been a big softy with me on land."
Mr Taylor has stayed in touch with the couple and plans to visit Bentley in Cambridge in the future.
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