Martin Ralfe, who is registered blind, climbed through brambles and barbed wire to rescue his dad after their car plunged 10 feet down to a body of water (Picture: PA Real Life)
A blind man climbed through brambles and barbed wire to drag his dad to safety after their car tumbled down a 10-foot verge into water.
Martin Ralfe, 30, was travelling home with his 58-year-old John when the car slipped on the road late one rainy evening last December.
The car fell off the edge of the road, landing on its side in a body of water 10ft below.
Martin found himself in water three-feet deep with his dad, who’d been driving, suspended above him.
John suffered no injuries and it was a dead nerve that had stopped him from using his leg directly after the crash (Picture: PA Real Life)
By chance, Martin had just the live-saving app he needed on his phone because he’d been testing it for work (Picture: PA Real Life)
The 30-year-old from St Helens, who works as an applications and technology programmer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue, said: ‘We were only travelling at around 15mph, it was a casual drive, no rush.
‘I noticed the car wobble a bit, but there wasn’t much to it. Then the car just slipped and felt like we were shooting to the left side of the road. My dad managed to control it and we stopped.
‘There was no problem and we were just about to have the ‘phew’ moment when again, the car just slipped and we fell off the edge of the road.
‘We tumbled two or three times down a verge until we came to a rest with the car in the air and myself in the passenger seat with the window shattered and in water.’
Martin, who is registered blind, managed to rescue his dad through the sunroof and clamber through brambles and barbed wire to the roadside.
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He then returned to his dad, who couldn’t move his leg due to a dead nerve, and dragged him by the collar to safety before losing his energy just as blue lights appeared.
Despite waking up in hospital in a head block and oxygen mask, Martin escaped with just a severe concussion, torn shoulder muscle and torn ankle ligaments, with no serious head injuries.
His dad suffered no injuries.
Police were able to find the pair within just 15 minutes thanks to Martin using an app to help emergency services pinpoint their exact location.
He’d initially tried calling emergency services, but with no knowledge of where they were and no landmarks visible on the dark night, Martin couldn’t explain his location to the operator.
Instead he turned to what3words, a location app used by 85% of the UK’s emergency services.
The app gives a unique combination of three words to every three-metre square in the world, allowing emergency services to hone in on an exact location.
Martin only had the app on his phone because he’d been testing it for work.
He said: ‘I don’t know what we would have done without what3words, there were no notable landmarks, it was dark outside and I’m blind – it saved our lives.
‘Working for emergency services, I always knew it was a useful tool, but this experience validated that.
‘If one good thing could come from this, it’s to raise awareness about what3words, as it could potentially save someone else’s life.’
He added: ‘It meant that we were able to give emergency responders the exact location of where we were so I wasn’t losing energy or losing time trying to find out our location and I could focus on getting us out of the situation we were in.
‘I’m on a bit of a crusade to make sure anyone I speak to is aware of the app and has it downloaded because there’s no reason not to have it.’
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