22-year-old Monash University student, Singh (his first name is not known yet) was rescued by emergency services from the chilly water off St Kilda pier on early Tuesday morning.
His friend, Ranvijay Kumar told the police that his friend had jumped into the water to retrieve his drone that had crashed into the water.
9News reported that the duo, Singh and Kumar were at the St. Kilda pier for a photoshoot as part of their university project when the $2500 drone fell into the water.
The pair tried to retrieve the drone from water but when they failed, Singh stripped down to his underwear and jumped into the water.
Kumar told 9News, “We could see it from the pier but couldn’t reach it. That’s when my friend jumped in to the water to get it.”
But Singh froze due to chilly conditions and went into shock. He couldn’t move to get out of the water.
Kumar tied Singh’s clothes and made a rope. With the help of two other passers-by, Kumar threw the make-shift rope into water and called police.
Singh held onto the rope for 30 minutes before he was rescued and taken to Alfred hospital in Melbourne.
Singh was released after a few hours and later returned to the pier to retrieve his drone.
Singh told 9News that he was trying to get a "360 degree shot to get good marks for his uni assignment" before the drone dropped into the water below.
"It was very, very cold. I was worried. I couldn't touch the floor with my feet so I started panicking," he said.
The drone was eventually retrieved, 9News reported.
