HERO Carl Kennedy abandoned his engagement celebrations to rescue a drowning woman.

He and fiance Abi Barker had just broken the news of their wedding plans to Carl's parents, Mick and Kim.

But as they walked along the River Wear in Durham, towards a pub to celebrate, an elderly woman plunged into the water and was swept past them.

Mr Kennedy, 26, of Stanley, said: "I saw people looking anxiously at the side of the river at Milburngate, and realised there was a lady in the river.

"I took off my shoes and trousers and plunged in. The water was freezing, but I managed to get the woman's head out of the water.

"She kept disappearing underneath. My dad waded in to help me keep a hold of her. We stayed with her at the edge of the Wear until the rescue services arrived."

Miss Barker, 25, who met Mr Kennedy when the pair were studying creative arts at Manchester Metropolitan University and who now runs a creative arts business in Stanley with him, said: "I knew Carl would not hesitate in going into the water.

"It was certainly an eventful weekend.

"I had to go to the shops to buy them some dry clothes. Lunch was rather late, but I am very proud of him."

Durham Fire Station Officer Steve Smith said: "If it had not been for them, goodness knows what the outcome would have been."

The woman, in her 70s, was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham, where she was treated for hypothermia.