LORAIN — Albert Radawiec knows he’s in for a lot of ribbing.

But he’ll gladly take it all, considering the alternative.

Radawiec, 81, of Avon, was saved from drowning in the Black River on Saturday when Lorain police officer Mike Hendershot jumped into the water to save him after Radawiec fell in while on a fishing trip.

The weather looked so fine on Saturday morning that Radawiec decided to go to one of his favorite fishing spots, the concrete pier at the mouth of the Black River. He set up his fishing spot with his bait bucket and aluminum folding chair and began fishing. But when the walleyes and steelheads weren’t biting from the deep water, he decided to go back to his car and get a bobber. As he turned to go to his car, a gust of wind started blowing his chair away.

“Like a dummy, I ran to grab it,” Radawiec said. “I lost my balance and took a nose dive.”

Radawiec knew he was in trouble. He’d fallen down deep into the water and struggled against his clothes, already weighted with water, to reach the surface.

The water, according to the Coast Guard, which assisted in Radawiec’s rescue, was around 50 degrees. Cold water is more dangerous than cold air, because the body loses heat up to 25 times faster, and hands, arms and legs become numb quickly, the Coast Guard said.

He yelled for help until two fishermen nearby heard him. According to Lorain police reports, the fishermen threw him a bait-bucket line and dragged him close to the pier. But he was too weak from the cold water to climb the nearby ladder.

“I was really cold, and ready to go under,” Radawiec said.

At that point, Hendershot arrived and climbed down the ladder to assist Radawiec. According to the police report, he went in the water alongside Radawiec and held him up until the Coast Guard rescue boat arrived.

With Lorain police officer Christopher Pittak assisting, Hendershot got into a personal flotation device while still holding Radawiec, then attached a flotation ring to Radawiec. Hendershot then swam Radawiec about 15 feet to the Coast Guard rescue boat, where Radawiec was hauled in and brought to the Hot Waters municipal boat launch, where an ambulance was waiting.

Radawiec, whose body temperature dropped to a dangerous 92 degrees while in the water (hypothermia is defined as when body temperature falls below 95 degrees), was taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Lorain, where he was treated and released.

He said Sunday night that he felt fine, except he felt bad about losing his wallet in the river. But, he said, one of the officers told him that Lorain police are doing some diving training there this week and maybe they’ll retrieve it.

“They can keep the money — I’d just like my license and paperwork back,” he said.

Hendershot was unavailable for comment Sunday.

Radawiec knew word would be getting out when he saw a bunch of people gathered to watch the rescue, and recognized many of them as fellow fishermen.

“I’m gonna get chewed out,” he said. But he’s learned his lesson.

“Next time, the chair can go in the drink for all I care,” he said.

Contact Melissa Hebert at 329-7129 or mhebert@chroniclet.com.