Cumbria floods river rescue was 'natural thing to do'
Last updated at 14:49, Thursday, 04 February 2010
“He was just looking at me too scared to speak... just looking at me and I had to help him,” recalled Des Taylorson, of Portinscale, casting his mind back to the moment when he saved a man’s life.
NOMINEE: Des Taylorson CATEGORY: Unsung Hero
On November 19 the hotel owner, 47, had been wading through flood water to reach the village, near Keswick, and rescue his family’s boxer dog from their Rickerby Grange Hotel when events took a dramatic turn.
Fellow village resident Ken Perrett, 49, was in front of Des in the water, also trying to return to the village, when the current became too much for him.
It swept him aside and forced him to cling on to a beech hedge to stop himself being washed away.
“He was just looking at me, hanging on to a bush and I just immediately went in after him,” said Des, who managed to manoeuvre himself over to Ken and, after trying to hold on to a road sign which snapped, he was able to cling on to a bush while holding him up.
“He was getting very cold and weak and he couldn’t hold on. He kept saying ‘let me go’ and I said, if I let you go you’ll die.
“I managed to pull us both back to an area of safety near a car at the side of the road, and then some other people helped me to get him out of the water.”
The terrifying ordeal lasted around 40 minutes but Des said “he didn’t even have chance to think” about the danger he was putting himself in.
“It’s a natural reaction to try and help somebody,” he said.
“We’ve spoken several times since – he lives a little way away from me but I didn’t know him before.
“He sent me a very nice card and I had cards from members of his family all around the world thanking me for what I did,” added Des.
“I didn’t realise how dangerous it was until the next day, when I saw that PC Bill Barker had been tragically washed away in Workington.
“Having been in the water if I’d let go of Ken, he wouldn’t have survived.”
First published at 11:27, Thursday, 04 February 2010
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
