‘I’m not a hero, I was just acting on instinct’: Modest father-of-two downplays fearless rescue of three-year-old girl and her mother trapped in sinking car while walking with …
By Matthew Lodge[1] and Elizabeth Haigh[2]
Published: 18:12, 3 January 2024 | Updated: 18:12, 3 January 2024
A fearless father-of-two has downplayed his dramatic rescue of a three-year-old girl and her mother when their car was trapped in floodwater.
Liam Stych insists he’s ‘not a hero’ and that he was ‘acting on instinct’ when he rushed to free the pair from their sinking Fiat Punto in Hall Green, Birmingham[3].
Footage showed the Liam, who had been on a walk with his five-months pregnant partner Tia Draper when they came across the car, dangling off a bridge.
The have-a-go hero smashed the rear passenger window of the car before using ratchet straps to lash it to the railings of the bridge to stop it sinking.
Incredibly, he saved the little girl by ‘hurling’ her into Tia’s lap, who was standing on the bridge filming the incident.
Liam Stych with his pregnant partner Tia Draper
West Midlands Police released this picture showing the submerged car
The fearless father dangled off the bridge and smashed the rear passenger window
West Midlands Police hailed Liam a ‘local hero’ – but the modest father -of-two insisted he just acted ‘on instinct’.
He said: ‘We were walking over a bridge and I heard a woman screaming from inside a car. She was shouting ‘Help me, help me, please save my baby she’s in the back!’ The front of her car was pointing down into the water so I dangled off the bridge but was careful not to put any more weight on the car in case it sank.
‘I told the woman to remain calm and unwind her window and to hand me her child. I said to her ‘Give me babbie’s hand, I’ll get her out’.
The woman could only get her window half-way down so I took the babbie and literally hurled her behind me and into the lap of Tia who was on the bridge.’
It comes as the UK was battered by wind and rain overnight, with 300 flood warnings in place across England and Wales. One person is confirmed to have died in the storm after their car was crushed by a tree.
The roadworks engineer and traffic manager then sprinted back to his work van and grabbed a set of 3.5 tonne ratchet straps.
He said: ‘Once the babbie was safe I ran to get the straps and climbed back to the car and smashed the back passenger window. I secured the car to the bridge with the ratchet straps so it wouldn’t drift any further under the bridge.
I then told the woman to climb into the back and get out the window.
‘She managed to get out and we then held hands and just jumped together into the water after a count of three. It was about 5ft deep but was really strong and I dragged her out of the water. The ambulance crew turned up and checked her and the child over.
‘I think if I hadn’t done what I did the car would have been dragged under the bridge and there would have been no way of getting them out.’
Liam, who has two children from a previous relationship, said he wanted people to understand the lethal danger of floods.
He said: ‘It was pure luck that we were there when it happened.
‘I didn’t think about what I was doing, I just acted on instinct. The poor lady has lost her car and her shopping which was in the back but she and her daughter could have lost their lives.
‘People don’t understand how powerful floods can be. It’d been raining heavily but the roads suddenly turned into rivers and the streams turned into raging rivers.
I just managed to stay calm and thought clearly about what needed to be done.
‘I didn’t want to make the situation worse by panicking and sinking the car with my weight. My only thought was to get them both out safely.’
His partner Tia, who is five months pregnant, told the BBC she had also tried to help before Mr Stych waded in. ‘The car was going with the current,’ she said. ‘It was just scary.’
The video emerged after it was confirmed on Wednesday that a man in his 50s had died after a tree fell on the car he was driving in Gloucestershire on Tuesday during strong winds and heavy rain.
Liam Stych and Tia Draper rescuers who saved a woman and her child from a submerged car on Green Lane
Liam Stych leapt across the to sin king vehicle and managed to pull the driver and three-year-old girl from the car
Video footage shows Mr Stych using the bridge railing to scramble across to the white car where the driver, a woman, was calling for help
The car was almost submerged when Mr Stych pulled the three-year-old girl out
The Environment Agency issued 331 flood warnings (in red) and 363 flood alerts (in amber)
A Gloucestershire Constabulary spokesperson said: ‘Emergency services, including an air ambulance, attended the location which is between Tetbury and Cirencester.
‘Despite the efforts of those at the scene a man aged in his 50s and from the Bath area died. His next of kin and the coroner have been informed.
‘The road remains closed as recovery and investigation work continues and motorists are asked to find alternative routes.’
The storm has caused chaos throughout the UK and left tens of thousands of homes without power.
Transport is seeing severe delays on Wednesday as train services get back on track after rain and strong winds from Storm Henk lashed large parts of the UK.
More than 300 flood warnings were in place across England and Wales on Wednesday morning, while 10,000 homes remained without power.
The UK’s rail network was hit by flooding and power cuts on Tuesday afternoon, with many operators reporting ongoing issues for the morning commute.
National Highways said several major roads in England are closed.
They include the A21 in East Sussex between the A2100 (near Johns Cross) and the A28 (near Baldslow) because a fallen tree is resting on power cables above the road.
Flooding has closed the A52 in Nottinghamshire westbound from the A60 (Nottingham Knight roundabout) to the A606 (Edwalton), and the A1 in Lincolnshire northbound from the A52 (Grantham) to the B6326 (near Newark).
National Highways said: ‘With more rain expected in many areas throughout the day, it is anticipated that the roads will remain closed for several hours.’
A severe flood alert, meaning danger to life, was in place for the River Nene in Northampton, which warned of deep and fast-flowing water at the Billing Aquadrome holiday park and nearby business parks.
A total of 330 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, were also in place across England.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had received 140 flood-related calls in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Leicestershire Police said a large number of homes were being affected by flooding in Loughborough, with police closing Belton Road from the junction of Jubilee Drive to Meadow Lane and A426 Lutterworth Road from Little Glen Road To Leicester Road Roundabout in Blaby.
In Wales there was one severe flood warning in place for the River Ritec in Tenby, 11 flood warnings and 38 flood alerts, according to Natural Resources Wales.
Huge waves crash against the pier at Seaham in County Durham this morning
Flooding outside Primark at the Market Street tram stop in Manchester city centre today
A tree partially blocks a road today in Greenwich, South East London, after it was blown down
The Kings Arms pub in York today after the River Ouse broke its banks and flooded the city
Flooded land at St Ives in Cambridgeshire where the Gt River Ouse burst its banks
The River Thames breaches its banks at Henley on Wednesday morning
The Energy Networks Association – which collates data from all energy providers – estimated that 10,000 customers were without power on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, a woman was injured by a falling tree in Orpington as high winds hit.
The Metropolitan Police were called at 3.14pm to reports that a woman had been struck by a tree in Station Approach.
Her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
The strongest gales were recorded at the Needles Old Battery in the Isle of Wight, where wind speeds reached 94mph.
Gusts of 81mph were reached at Exeter Airport in Devon, and top winds hit 71mph at the Isle of Portland in Dorset and also at Mumbles Head in Glamorgan.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service was called out to The Ford in Kenilworth to rescue a motorist who got stuck trying to drive through flood water.
In Greenwich, south-east London, a large panel of scaffolding fell from either side of a building on Creek Road due to the heavy winds.
Marketing manager Josh Hargreaves, 30, told the PA news agency that he and his boyfriend had watched the scaffolding ‘pretty much swaying in the wind’ before falling from the front of the building at around 3.40pm.
Then, an hour later, scaffolding fell from the back of the building as well.
References
- ^ Matthew Lodge (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Elizabeth Haigh (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Birmingham (www.dailymail.co.uk)