Samuel Efejuku told The Press he saw the woman, who he described as being distressed, enter the river while he was sitting next to Ouse Bridge in the early hours of Sunday (June 29).
“I was in shock,” he said. “I was shaking.”
Mr Efejuku said he “pulled” a floatation ring from its holder and threw it to the woman while she was in the water.
“She was shouting, ‘I can’t swim, I can’t swim. I don’t want to die’,” he said.
The 35-year-old said he phoned 999 at about 4am and police, firefighters and paramedics quickly arrived on the scene.
He described the area around Ouse Bridge as “busy” with people who had been on nights out.
But he said he was "shocked" that more people did not help the woman.
“I was holding her [with the floatation ring]," he added.
Mr Efejuku said the emergency services took over when crews arrived and guided the woman up a ladder and into their care.
He said the woman had been holding on to the floatation device in the water for between 15 and 20 minutes.
North Yorkshire Police confirmed that the woman had received a check-up from paramedics and was now recovering.
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Four new homes have been unveiled in the grounds of a former officers’ mess and lodgings in York – with a starting price of £1.5 million.
