A Raleigh man was transported to WakeMed today after initial treatment for mild hypothermia when he went into the water in a canoeing mishap on the Roanoke River.

Sergeant Carl Hatcher of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission said William Sorrell, 66, and Paulina Purvis, 51, put in a 12-foot aluminum canoe under the Rockfish Capital Bridge and paddled upstream to the Halifax County side around the old railroad trestle.

The boat got sideways and Sorrell went into the water. Purvis did not go into the water but the canoe was becoming inundated, Hatcher said.

Sorrell was unable to get back in the canoe and drifted downstream clinging to the vessel. Both the man and woman wore lifejackets.

They were able to get to the banks where the woman called 911. Weldon police Officer Derrick Moore got them on land around the trestle.

"I'm proud and pleased of his actions," Weldon police Chief Mark macon said this afternoon. "Derrick was officer of the year in 2014 and a proud U.S, Marine Corps veteran."

Moore has been with the department for slightly more than a year and is a paramedic. "He was the first one on the scene and responded to the distress call and he reacted bravely in helping saving the lives of those two people. I'm grateful to his reaction and service."

The police department will most likely honor Moore at the next town board meeting, Macon said.

Both were taken to the hospital and Purvis is OK.

Wildlife Enforcement Officer Patrick Brown investigated as the matter is considered a boating mishap, Hatcher said.