A Westside street warden brought joy to a young visitor to Birmingham – by rescuing his prized soft toy from a watery fate.
Warden Kassim Sagheer was called upon to pull the blue rabbit from the canal after its owner, a three-year-old boy, had accidentally dropped it into the water while crossing a footbridge.
And, as you can see from the video, which was recorded on Kassim’s bodycam, the tearful youngster was delighted to have his favourite bunny back.
Kassim, aged 21, who has only been a Westside warden for six months, said: “The little boy and his mother had just been to the Sea Life Centre. They were walking across the Cube bridge when the boy dropped his toy and it fell into the canal.
“I was less than a hundred yards away when they came up to me and asked if I could get a boat to get it out. No-one was going to put a boat out for something like that, so I said I would try to get it for them.”
Kassim said the toy had fortunately been blown to the opposite side of the canal.
He added: “In order to get to it, I had to climb over a wall and then also climb over the fence at the side of the canal. I was able to reach the toy while holding onto the fence for support.”
The video shows the boy, who had just turned three, in tears as he clambers up steps to be reunited with his bunny, although he recoils at discovering it’s wet.
Added Kassim: “His mum said it was his first toy from birth and he doesn’t play with anything else. Even when they tried buying him a new one he still wanted the old one back, so it was really nice to rescue it from the canal.”
It is understood the boy and his mother were visiting Birmingham from their home in France.
