Homeless hero involved in another river rescue

A homeless Winnipeg man hailed as a hero for jumping into the frigid Red River in Winnipeg in May to save a drowning teen was involved in another river rescue on Friday.

Police said Faron Hall, 44, pulled a woman from the river Friday afternoon.

The Winnipeg police dive team was called to an area near the Norwood Bridge at Marion Street just after 1 p.m. to search for a person believed to have drowned.

Police believe three people were consuming alcohol near the water when a woman fell in. A male friend jumped in after her but was swept away by the current.

Hall managed to help the woman, his girlfriend, out of the water but could not get to the man.

Hours later, police recovered the body of a man in his twenties.

"The terrain is quite difficult under the water," said police diver Const. Frank Wurr. "There's a lot of hills and ridges, and lots of obstacles, such as shopping carts."

Hall was too shaken up to talk to the media on Friday.

In May, Hall was presented with the mayor's medal of valour after risking his life to save Joseph Mousseau, 19.

Mousseau and a group of other youths were running across the Provencher Bridge, dodging traffic and hopping over the railings between the eastbound and westbound lanes. Mousseau then attempted to leap across a gap between the traffic lanes and the adjacent pedestrian bridge.

As he fell, his back and an ankle struck a concrete support beam, prompting Mousseau to scream out as he plunged into the water.

The noise caught the attention of Hall, who was sitting on the riverbank with his friend, Wayne Spence. Hall jumped into the cold water, swimming on an angle against the current. He calmed the panicked boy and pulled him back to shore, where Spence helped them out.