Metro

Lifeguards honored after rescuing drowning man

Two lifeguards that helped save a Brooklyn man’s life after he passed out swimming on the hottest day of the summer were awarded at a ceremony in Central Park this morning by the Parks Department.

“They saved my life, it was the first thing I had to do. I had to say thank you for saving my life,” Dimitry Zhalkevich, 33, told the Post by phone.

Brianna Minogue, 17, and Inez Zuska, 24, witnessed Zhalkevich face down in the water on July 20 when they hauled him out of the water and onto dry land.

“He just came and hugged us and kissed us like a thousand times. He was saying he was getting a second chance at life and that’s something you don’t get every day. It really makes you think, wow, it really works what they teach you in life guarding school! When we saw him gasp [after two rounds of cpr] it was a miracle, there’s no other word for it,” Zuska,24, a nursing student and Brooklyn Lifeguard said of the rescue.

“I noticed something unusual, someone floating face down in the water. Right away I blew my whistle and ran in,” Minoque said.

The man had no pulse so the duo started CPR.

“They told me I wasn’t breathing and she [Inez] started doing CPR but nothing was happening. She started crying, it was emotional,” Zhalkevich learned of the rescue.

“He was foaming at the mouth. His skin was a sort of purple color. It was a seizure,” Minoque added.

“Thank god you were there, I told the girls,” Zhalkevich recounted.

Zhalkevich was in critical conditions at Coney Island Hospital for three weeks and couldn’t remember anything that happened.

“It took me four days to remember what happened to me,” he said.

“The nurses were calling me a miracle,” he added.

Zhalkevich quit smoking and drinking and said it “opened my eyes. I want to lead a better life,” he explained.

The Brooklyn plumber plans to go for a swim as early as next week.

The two life savers belong to municipal program that has over 1,500 lifeguards working this summer.

“All of our lifeguards are well trained for a situation like this and are ready to act when the situation requires,” said Parks Department First Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanagh.