What began as a routine bike patrol along the Whitehorse waterfront last Sunday ended in a heroic rescue by student bylaw officer Erik Gray.

His patrol shift began that morning when he adorned his yellow and blue uniform, put on his helmet and set out with his partner, Helen Wale.

They were pedaling along the Millennium Trail, he said, coming up to Shipyards Park, when people began yelling at them from over the hill.

Gray, 19, told the Star Wednesday he heard cries for help, bounded off his patrol bike, and saw a woman face-down in the water.

Though other people were in the area, Gray was the only person to take action and help the woman who had fallen into the water.

'Without hesitation, I just ran into the water, about knee-high, grabbed her, flipped her over, sat her up,' he said.

The woman, whom Gray describes as being in her mid-40s, about 5'9 tall and weighing 190 lbs., was semiconscious and breathing when he found her.

We pulled her by the arms and got her out of the water.' His patrol partner brought the first aid kit from her bike.

Minutes later, more bylaw officers arrived after having received Gray's radio call. The other people visiting the waterfront seemed initially unfazed by the situation, Gray said.

'It was as though they were used to it. I just went into rescue mode, into the water.'

Gray said he has not heard from the woman since the rescue, and a potential meeting would be, 'up to her.'

While Gray was successful in his rescue, the situation could have ended much worse.

'It could have been dangerous,' said Const. Dave Pruden, the city's senior bylaw services constable.

'Although it's summer time, the water's still cold ... if she had drifted out further, in deep water, he wouldn't have been able to get to her.

'He did the right thing.'

Gray's bike patrols usually involve looking for dogs running off-leash, bike riders without helmets, and other bylaw infringements in the downtown and waterfront areas.

John Taylor, the city's manager of bylaw services, said they do not plan to train bike patrollers for water rescues as a result of Sunday's rescue.

Instead, he said, they will urge patrollers to 'use common sense, and not put yourself in danger.'

Taylor said he has spoken to senior city staff about formally recognizing Gray for his heroic efforts.

While this was Gray's first rescue, it was not the first notable event to occur while on patrol this summer, he said.

Earlier in the season, Gray discovered a body while on a routine bike patrol along the waterfront. The details of his discovery cannot be released, as the case is still under police investigation.

When not performing aquatic rescues, Gray studies kinestheology full-time at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

This is his second summer working for the Whitehorse bylaw services bike patrol program, also in its second year.

While he's hesitant to be labelled a hero, he said he now has quite the story to tell when he returns to school in the fall.