Good Samaritans rescue man from water at San Francisco's Pier 23

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A man is lucky to be alive after two good Samaritans jumped into the cold San Francisco Bay on Thursday to save him.

It happened just before 2 p.m. at Pier 23. Witnesses say a man was sitting on a bench, by himself, when he suddenly started taking off his clothes. He stripped down to his shorts and then jumped in.

Cellphone video shows the rescue. The two men who jumped in to help were strangers, passersby who admit that at first, they weren't sure what to think.

"He's paddling, trying to keep his weight up and then his energy gave out. And that was when it was time to make some moves," rescuer John Mahowald said.

Mahowald is a former lifeguard, while Jeremy Kistler was simply a guy having lunch at Pier 23 on a sunny day.

He saw the man in the water for a few minutes. "He started calling for his dad, delirious, and he started going underneath and the water going into his mouth. He really looked like he was going to go under and not come up," he said.

Once the two got to the man, they say he seemed to relax a bit and let them help him.

Restaurant staff put a ladder in the water and the victim managed to climb to safety.

Medics rushed him to the hospital, where he's recovering.