He said: "I ran over and saw these two
little hands at the surface, then they went underwater again.
"He was obviously drowning. There were
two other people who were trying to reach him from the bank,
but couldn't.
"I gave baby Ellie to Amanda and jumped
in, but slipped and caught my shin on the rock.
"It hurt, but by then the adrenaline
was going and I didn't really feel it.
"The cold was shocking, and it was deep.
I couldn't touch the bottom.
"The boy was underwater again and I
grabbed him and took him to the side and handed him to some
people. He was only five or six.
"When I got out there was a nasty gash
across my shin and my leg was pouring with blood."
Darren was taken to the infirmary, where
doctors closed the gash with seven stitches before he was
sent home - but the wound became infected and he had to be
re-admitted.
Darren said: "My leg swelled up and
the antibiotics I had to start with didn't stop it. They gave
me stronger drugs in hospital. I've now got a hole in my leg
and I'm on crutches, but it is on the mend.
" I'm just happy to have got the boy
out."
Darren and his wife Amanda, 35, were in the
park with 13-month-old Ellie and nine-year-old daughter Megan
when the drama unfolded.
Amanda said: "It all happened so fast.
Suddenly, he gave me the baby and the next thing he was in
the water. I think when it first happened everyone was in
shock until Darren jumped in.
"When he got out his leg looked awful,
and it really ballooned up the next day. Megan was really
scared by it all, and was upset that Darren was hurt, but
the important thing is that the little boy is all right, and
Darren's a little hero, not that he sees it that way."
A spokesman for the Bradgate Park Estate
said they understood a member of the public had helped a boy
who fell in a river at the site on May 10. The park ranger
did not witness the incident.
He said: "The ranger understands that
a lad was in the river and stumbled and another visitor went
to his assistance."
