Auxiliary constables Darren Marshall and Rob Sampson are credited with saving the life of a distraught man they pulled from Nanaimo Harbour on the weekend.
The officers were walking on the public fishing pier near Maffeo Sutton Park, just before 7 p.m. Friday, when a man elbowed his way through people to walk past the officers and into the water.
The officers asked if he needed help, but the man didn't answer and just floated on his back, apparently oblivious to his situation, as he drifted away from the pier.
Marshall swam out to the man who had drifted about 2.5 metres from the pier, grabbed him by the collar and lifted him back onto the pier with help from Sampson and several bystanders.
A regular RCMP member arrived and took the man to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.