An Edmonton tourist dove into Charlottetown Harbour to rescue a 67-year-old Charlottetown man Wednesday evening.

'I couldn't pull him back to the rocks, I wouldn't have made it back with him.'— Brian Devlin

Brian Devlin was on the waterfront at 5:30 p.m. when he saw a 67-year-old Charlottetown man get into the water at Peake's Quay. The man tried to swim a short distance to where teenagers were diving off a concrete footing where ships tie up to the wharf.

"I don't know why he went over there. I mean, he was on a scooter, like a wheelchair type of scooter. I don't know what made him go over there," Devlin told CBC News.

"He decided on his own to go over there and swim over where the kids were and he got halfway and he started to struggle. So the kids went over there to try to help him out and they couldn't help him, so I just dove in and pulled him over. Because I couldn't pull him back to the rocks, I wouldn't have made it back with him, I just pulled him over to the pylon and held on until the boat came to get me out of the water."

Devlin said the man was unconscious but breathing as he held him in the water for about 10 minutes waiting for a passing boat to arrive and take them to shore.

Victim stopped breathing

Emergency workers resuscitate the man after he was pulled from the water. (CBC)

The man's condition apparently deteriorated after he was brought to shore.

A number of people were there to offer help, including Edmonton anesthesiologist Dr. Mary Chisholm.

"He appeared to have stopped breathing on the dock, but whether he still had a pulse or not I can't tell you," said Sgt. Tom Clow of Charlottetown Police.

"[Dr. Chisholm] worked long and hard along with Island EMS, also the Charlottetown Fire Department, and the gentlemen who were civilians there. They were able to stabilize him."

There's no word yet on the man's condition Thursday morning.

The three teenagers who tried to help the man in the water were also taken to hospital. They were being observed for signs of nervous exhaustion.