Watch: Hero dad describes saving woman and girl, three, from trapped sinking car
A dad who helped save a woman and her three-year-old daughter from a sinking car during Storm Henk has said he acted on “instinct” after being hailed a “local hero”.
Liam Stych, 28, leapt into the raging torrent after hearing the woman screaming: “Help me, help me, please save my baby.” Dramatic video shows the woman’s Fiat Punto being dragged under a footbridge as floods surged through Hall Green in Birmingham on Tuesday afternoon.
The fearless dad dangled off the bridge, smashed the rear passenger window and used ratchet straps to attach the woman’s car to railings to stop it sinking. Incredibly, he saved the little girl by “hurling” her into the lap of his pregnant partner Tia Draper, 27, who was standing on the bridge.
West Midlands Police hailed Liam a “local hero”, but the modest dad-of-two played down the incident.
Stych 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.”
Stych, who has two children from a previous relationship, said he wanted people to understand the lethal danger of floods. He added: “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.”
He continued: “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.”
The rescue
While taking a walk over a bridge with his partner, Stych had heard a woman screaming from inside a car. The woman was shouting for help, asking him to save her baby who was in the backseat.
The front of her car was pointing downwards into the water, so he carefully dangled off the bridge without putting any more weight on the car to avoid any chances of sinking. He then advised the woman to remain calm, unwind her window and to hand over her child to him.
Sytch added: “She was shouting ‘Help me, help me, please save my baby she’s in the back!’
He said: “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.”
The roadworks engineer and traffic manager then sprinted back to his work van and grabbed a set of 3.5 tonne ratchet straps, climbed back to the car and smashed the back passenger window. He secured the car to the bridge with the ratchet straps so it wouldn’t drift any further and then told the woman to climb into the back and get out the window.
She managed to get out and the two then held hands and just jumped together into the water after a count of three. Sytch added. He then dragged her out of the 5ft water which had a strong current and waited for the ambulance crew to arrive to check her over.
How long is Storm Henk going to last?
While Storm Henk has passed, many areas in the UK are still struggling to cope with its aftermath. The storm caused extensive flooding and destruction, with gusts of over 90mph. As the first named storm of 2024, it brought down trees and scaffolding and caused power outages.
Network Rail said transport delays would continue as train services get back on track. More than 300 flood warnings were in place across England and Wales on Wednesday morning. 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.
Transport delays were ongoing as commuters attempted to make their way to work on the first week back after Christmas. More rain is expected in many areas throughout the day, prompting National Highways to warn of road closures that could last for several hours
