A 3-year-old girl and her mother were rescued when a couple of passers-by jumped into action during a flood in Birmingham, England, last week.
A video of the daring rescue was posted online and shared by The Times and the Sunday Times, displaying “local hero” Liam Stych’s efforts to steady himself over a car, which was wedged under a bridge overpass with a mother and child trapped inside.
The 28-year-old roadworks engineer and traffic manager had come upon the scene while walking with his girlfriend, Tia Draper. She recorded the actions while contacting local emergency services.
She could be heard telling the dispatch worker, “They’re buried under the bridge. They’re stuck. The car’s about to sink under the bridge!”
Draper then asked, “How many of you are there?”
The driver frantically screamed, “Two. Two, my daughter’s 3 years old.”
“Please get my daughter out!” she continued screaming.
Draper cried out, “It’s going to fall under the bridge!”
Stych could be heard struggling as the mother continued crying out. Draper then ran to the bridge, where Stych was able to toss the little girl to his girlfriend.
Draper was then heard saying, “I’ve got the little girl,” just before the child cried for her mother, and Stych rescued the mom.
Stych noted they witnessed the car getting picked up by the current and that he was able to secure the car to the bridge with gear he had in his car, which helped him to safely get both mother and child out.
Taking things across the pond, significant flooding is currently ongoing in central and southern England following a powerful storm and a week straight of heavy rainfall!
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) January 6, 2024
Local councils have declared state of emergencies in wake of Storm Henk. pic.twitter.com/YcWp92YTYm
This dangerous situation was a result of Storm Henk, which wreaked havoc on England last week, via The Independent.
In east London, the Hanley Wick canal burst, leading to the rescue of 50 people.
Nottinghamshire was also evacuated, and more than 260 flood warnings were issued.
About 2,00 people were evacuated from Northampton after a flood warning was issued for the River Nene at Billing Aquadrome.
Resident Robert Britchford stated, “It’s the second time in three years that it has flooded.”
“I’m a bit anxious. We felt it was coming but we hoped it wouldn’t,” he continued.
Then he concluded, “Now we have to find hotels. They won’t let us back on until this is all sorted, so it could be a month before we come back on.”