This is the heroic moment a brave man, who could only doggy paddle, saves a drowning woman from a freezing river after spotting her floating face down in the water.

Dramatic footage shows the saviour, Zhang Wei, taking off his top and jumping into the Danjiang River in Shangluo, Shaanxi Province, China, on January 22, around 2 pm.

The video reveals him swimming towards the elderly, using a life buoy to bring her back to shore before flipping her over so her head is out of the water and using the buoy to keep her afloat.

The footage then cuts to him being helped by witnesses to remove her from the water as a large crowd of onlookers watches.

Local media reports said Zhang's body turned red during the rescue due to the cold water.

The temperature in Shangluo was reportedly between minus 3 and 14 degrees Celsius that day.

Zhang said: 'I rode my motorcycle over and saw an old woman floating face down in the water three or four metres away from the shore.

'Two women tried to hook her with their scarves, but they couldn't and shouted anxiously. I saw the old woman struggling, and this was the best time to save her.

'I thought it would be okay to pull her up at this time, so I jumped into the water to rescue her.

'The water should be four or five metres deep. The temperature was very low at the time. Anyway, it was quite cold. I didn't have time to take off my pants.

'My whole body was red from the cold. It was really cold. I don't know why my skin felt hot and red.

'I told the people on the shore that she was fine, because the old woman opened her eyes and looked at me. She had recovered in the water. When I lifted her up, I found that she only had one arm.'

An ambulance was called, and the pensioner was taken to the hospital.

Zhang has been praised as a hero, and officials have now started the process to award him an official commendation.

His six-year-old daughter said: 'Dad is so amazing, give him a thumbs up!'

But Zhang remained modest, saying: 'I didn't think too much when I rescued the old woman. I saw her fall into the water and I felt I had to lend a hand.

'As long as the old woman can recover fully, it's fine. I didn't think too much about other things.'