Episode 4 Close Calls: On Camera


Episode 4

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Episode 4. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

A close call, a moment of danger when life can hang in the balance.

0:00:020:00:04

What would happen if I wasn't found, or didn't find a way out of it?

0:00:040:00:08

A split second where the outcome could go either way.

0:00:080:00:11

It's a choice - life or death.

0:00:110:00:13

The difference between disaster and survival.

0:00:130:00:16

We saw a lady who was critically ill, if not dying in front of us.

0:00:160:00:20

I kept thinking the hotel was going to fall on us.

0:00:200:00:23

These are the people that have been there and lived to tell the tale.

0:00:230:00:26

It's a day they'll never forget -

0:00:260:00:29

the day they had a close call.

0:00:290:00:31

Today, on Close Calls -

0:00:470:00:49

paragliding instructor Sam is plunging to earth,

0:00:490:00:53

spinning at 90mph.

0:00:530:00:55

He's out of control.

0:00:550:00:57

You're trying to live, you want to live.

0:00:570:00:59

It's a choice - life or death.

0:00:590:01:01

He's going to hit bare rock, or crash into trees -

0:01:010:01:06

either one could kill him.

0:01:060:01:07

And...two young boys are trapped on the third floor of their home.

0:01:100:01:14

It's rapidly filling with smoke.

0:01:140:01:16

It was hard to breathe

0:01:160:01:18

and I couldn't open my eyes cos it would hurt.

0:01:180:01:21

He was trying to catch his breath, and he was crying and shaking.

0:01:210:01:25

Fire officers are racing to save them.

0:01:250:01:28

On our way to the job, they confirmed there were two children.

0:01:280:01:31

That's as serious as it gets.

0:01:310:01:33

Also today, a dad-to-be on a last lads' ski holiday

0:01:340:01:38

has an horrific collision on the slopes.

0:01:380:01:41

The first thing I knew about the other person

0:01:410:01:43

was the moment of impact.

0:01:430:01:44

Looked behind me, and we could see his face was just covered in blood -

0:01:460:01:50

just red.

0:01:500:01:51

Fethiye, Turkey.

0:02:000:02:02

It's a blazing hot afternoon when, 6,200 feet up,

0:02:020:02:06

paragliding instructor Sam Cullingworth launches himself

0:02:060:02:10

off Mount Babadag, a favourite but notorious location

0:02:100:02:14

for extreme sports enthusiasts.

0:02:140:02:17

Everything seems calm as Sam films the view.

0:02:180:02:21

But seconds after these shots, Sam faces the worst moments of his life.

0:02:210:02:26

Sam misjudges the thermals.

0:02:280:02:30

His paraglider canopy collapses and he plunges towards the ground.

0:02:300:02:35

And I lost nearly 2,000 feet.

0:02:350:02:37

And, literally, you're just going like this...

0:02:370:02:39

HE BLOWS

0:02:390:02:40

His onboard camera records the terrifying events that follow.

0:02:400:02:44

Sam regularly visits Turkey, where he has a home,

0:02:520:02:56

but he comes from less sunnier climes -

0:02:560:02:58

Kirkburton, West Yorkshire,

0:02:580:03:00

where he works as a personal trainer.

0:03:000:03:03

He lives with his fiancee Ali.

0:03:030:03:05

Being with Sammy is never boring.

0:03:060:03:08

You name it, he's done it -

0:03:080:03:09

scuba diving, on the motorbike.

0:03:090:03:12

So I always just accepted, right from the beginning, he was always

0:03:120:03:15

going to be doing something out there, a bit out there.

0:03:150:03:17

Sam isn't what you see on the surface, there's a lot more to him.

0:03:170:03:21

But for sports enthusiast Sam, his main love - other than Ali - is paragliding.

0:03:220:03:27

I've always, as a child, dreamed of flying.

0:03:270:03:30

You get the serenity - when you're up at cloud-base, underneath the

0:03:300:03:33

cloud and you're just gliding along and there's these

0:03:330:03:35

spectacular views - there's a kind of peace, almost, to it.

0:03:350:03:39

Sam's been paragliding for the last 16 years

0:03:390:03:42

and is a qualified instructor.

0:03:420:03:45

We've taught disabled people to fly.

0:03:450:03:46

You know, if they can't walk, they can still fly.

0:03:460:03:49

And Sam regularly makes the pilgrimage to Mount Babadag

0:03:490:03:53

in Turkey. At 6,000 feet, it's a mecca for paragliders.

0:03:530:03:58

I'd gone on a holiday to Turkey to see some old friends there,

0:03:580:04:02

and actually go flying off the mountain that I love so much.

0:04:020:04:06

It's a hot day, mid-afternoon, when Sam launches

0:04:060:04:09

for his second flight off the mountain.

0:04:090:04:12

I took off and got in a nice, strong thermal just on the ridge.

0:04:130:04:17

Hot air rising off the ground creates thermal currents

0:04:190:04:22

that give paragliders lift.

0:04:220:04:24

Sam is flying thousands of feet above the bay,

0:04:260:04:29

but he's misjudged the thermals

0:04:290:04:31

and the error proves catastrophic.

0:04:310:04:33

It's entirely my fault, really,

0:04:370:04:39

that I ended up in the situation that I ended.

0:04:390:04:42

I'd reached the edge of a thermal

0:04:420:04:44

and basically there was a downdraught.

0:04:440:04:46

The glider collapsed on the outside and went through the lines.

0:04:460:04:49

I couldn't recover it.

0:04:490:04:51

With his canopy tangled up,

0:04:520:04:53

Sam's sent into a terrifying 90mph spin.

0:04:530:04:58

I was totally locked out, and I had three-and-a-half Gs pressing

0:04:580:05:01

on my body and, literally, you're just going like this.

0:05:010:05:04

HE BLOWS

0:05:040:05:06

I did think I was going to die and you can pass out -

0:05:080:05:11

people have been known to pass out and then they can't do anything,

0:05:110:05:14

and I lost nearly 2,000 feet in that period of time.

0:05:140:05:17

Spinning violently, desperate, Sam needs all his strength to try

0:05:180:05:21

and reach his emergency reserve parachute.

0:05:210:05:24

You're trying to live.

0:05:240:05:25

You want to live. It's a choice - life or death.

0:05:250:05:29

That's it.

0:05:290:05:30

All the blood is right at the back of your body, like, in my boots

0:05:310:05:34

and behind me, and it was like trying to reach something,

0:05:340:05:37

and it just reached, it just literally managed to throw it out.

0:05:370:05:41

The moment everything slowed down and stopped

0:05:420:05:45

it was just like, "Hallelujah."

0:05:450:05:47

But Sam's relief is short-lived.

0:05:470:05:50

The reserve parachute opened up and started to fly,

0:05:500:05:53

but then my paraglider decided to fly as well, came back up,

0:05:530:05:57

smacked the reserve parachute and took a load of air

0:05:570:05:59

out of the parachute and I was falling again.

0:05:590:06:02

Later - Sam stops spinning,

0:06:030:06:07

but he's now too close to the ground to avoid crash-landing.

0:06:070:06:10

He's going to hit bare rock,

0:06:100:06:12

or plunge into the towering 60-foot trees.

0:06:120:06:15

I was, like, "Please!"

0:06:150:06:17

Keeping children safe and secure at home

0:06:250:06:27

is every parent's priority, obviously.

0:06:270:06:30

But it's the bravery and skill of the emergency services

0:06:300:06:32

we turn to if things go badly wrong.

0:06:320:06:34

Briar Hill, Northampton -

0:06:410:06:43

7.16am.

0:06:430:06:44

Two boys are trapped in the top floor of this house

0:06:450:06:48

while it burns beneath them.

0:06:480:06:50

I was scared. It was hard to breathe

0:06:500:06:54

and I couldn't open my eyes cos it would hurt.

0:06:540:06:57

Cameras mounted on a fire engine show firefighters

0:06:570:07:00

attempt a daring rescue.

0:07:000:07:03

It's the smoke - the smoke is what generally kills people

0:07:030:07:07

and there was an awful lot of that.

0:07:070:07:09

Firefighter Chris Evans will be going up the ladder

0:07:090:07:12

to try and save the boys, but he knows time is running out.

0:07:120:07:15

Sarah Scott is a busy woman.

0:07:200:07:22

As well as working in a kitchen that delivers school meals, she's a

0:07:220:07:25

single parent to four children who all live with her under one roof.

0:07:250:07:29

It's a struggle. I work a lot of hours, but I try and balance it out

0:07:290:07:32

with the children so we get to spend time together.

0:07:320:07:35

They mean everything to me.

0:07:370:07:38

As well as her 23-year-old son and 20-year-old daughter,

0:07:390:07:43

there's 15-year-old James and his 11-year-old brother Liam.

0:07:430:07:47

These two have a bit of a love-hate relationship.

0:07:470:07:50

Sometimes we don't get along.

0:07:510:07:53

Sometimes he can be quit...

0:07:530:07:55

Quite irritating.

0:07:550:07:56

-All right.

-James is very sensible,

0:07:560:07:59

he's very trustworthy and thoughtful.

0:07:590:08:01

Liam's a bit of a scatterbrain. He's very away with the fairies, Liam.

0:08:020:08:06

SHE CHUCKLES

0:08:060:08:08

He's just annoying.

0:08:100:08:11

But Liam is soon going to need to rely on his sensible big brother.

0:08:130:08:17

It's a Monday morning in November.

0:08:200:08:22

Sarah's older children have already gone out,

0:08:220:08:24

while James and Liam are still asleep.

0:08:240:08:27

Sarah herself has had to leave extra early for work.

0:08:270:08:30

I had to open up,

0:08:300:08:32

so I left at about 6.40

0:08:320:08:34

and I planned to call James to wake up for school at 7.30.

0:08:340:08:39

But Sarah never gets to make that wake-up call.

0:08:390:08:42

Instead, alone in the house,

0:08:430:08:45

the boys get woken by something far more disturbing.

0:08:450:08:48

Just after 7am, Liam's in his bedroom on the middle floor.

0:08:490:08:54

So, I woke up and I saw the room was full of smoke.

0:08:540:08:57

I shouted, "James! James, there's a fire!"

0:09:010:09:04

And he obviously couldn't hear me.

0:09:040:09:06

Liam realises he's going to have to try and reach James's room on the

0:09:080:09:12

third floor. But opening his bedroom door,

0:09:120:09:15

he finds the hallway clogged with smoke.

0:09:150:09:18

It was hard to breathe

0:09:180:09:20

and I couldn't open my eyes cos it would hurt.

0:09:200:09:23

Desperate for help, he runs into the choking smoke

0:09:250:09:28

and upstairs to wake his brother.

0:09:280:09:30

He was trying to catch his breath and he was crying and shaking,

0:09:310:09:35

so I got up and opened the door

0:09:350:09:37

and then just loads of smoke just come in my bedroom door.

0:09:370:09:41

James realises immediately this is a serious fire.

0:09:410:09:46

The heat hit me and I could tell that I couldn't go downstairs

0:09:460:09:49

and, like, put it out.

0:09:490:09:51

He's right - the boys are on the third floor, 30 feet up.

0:09:510:09:55

But the heat and smoke are now so intense,

0:09:550:09:58

they can't get out the window.

0:09:580:10:00

They're trapped.

0:10:000:10:02

I was panicking, I didn't know what to do.

0:10:020:10:05

The most frightening moment of my life.

0:10:050:10:07

Liam was crying and I opened my window straight away and he just,

0:10:080:10:12

like, sat up by the windowsill and I just told him, "Liam,

0:10:120:10:15

"It's going to be all right. I'll call 999."

0:10:150:10:17

James takes charge of the situation.

0:10:190:10:22

He calls 999 on his mobile and is put through to a fire and rescue

0:10:220:10:25

emergency call taker.

0:10:250:10:28

This is a recording of the call.

0:10:280:10:30

BOY CRIES IN BACKGROUND

0:10:350:10:36

With his younger brother distraught in the background,

0:10:390:10:42

James attempts to keep his cool in the heat.

0:10:420:10:45

I was really frightened, trying really hard to stay calm

0:10:450:10:47

because I didn't want to worry Liam.

0:10:470:10:50

The call handler grasps the seriousness of the situation immediately.

0:10:500:10:53

Mereway Fire Station head out.

0:10:560:10:58

Firefighter Chris Evans is on board.

0:10:590:11:01

On our way to the job, they confirmed there were two children -

0:11:020:11:06

makes everyone sort of sit up a bit more.

0:11:060:11:07

With the fire engines on their way,

0:11:070:11:09

the boys feel the blaze below intensify.

0:11:090:11:12

The smoke had got thicker and I could feel the heat through the floor.

0:11:120:11:16

I could tell that the fire was getting really big.

0:11:160:11:18

The trained call-taker knows what they need to do to stay alive.

0:11:180:11:22

Yeah, we put the blanket at the bottom of the door.

0:11:270:11:30

It worked, like it didn't get any more smoke.

0:11:320:11:35

But with the blaze increasing beneath them,

0:11:350:11:38

every second they wait for rescue is agonising for James and Liam.

0:11:380:11:43

For Liam's sake, James is still trying to stay calm.

0:11:490:11:52

No.

0:11:590:12:00

The two fire engines reach the burning house within seven minutes.

0:12:020:12:06

A camera on the front of one of the engines shows the crew arriving

0:12:060:12:11

at the back of the house. The boys can just be seen leaning out

0:12:110:12:15

of James's room at the top of the picture.

0:12:150:12:17

Heavy smoke is coming out of their window.

0:12:170:12:20

Chris and his fellow firefighters are worried by what they see.

0:12:200:12:24

The smoke is what generally kills people

0:12:240:12:27

and there was an awful lot of that.

0:12:270:12:29

Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus go to the front of

0:12:290:12:32

the house to fight the fire on the ground floor, while,

0:12:320:12:35

on the engine's rear camera, Chris can be seen here

0:12:350:12:38

taking down the crew's ladder to get to the boys.

0:12:380:12:41

But access here, at the back of the house, is difficult.

0:12:410:12:44

We have a lot of problems with vehicles, trees in our way.

0:12:440:12:48

It was a very congested area.

0:12:480:12:50

Still on the line to the call-taker,

0:12:500:12:52

the boys frantically watch as the firefighters try to reach them.

0:12:520:12:56

But Chris makes short work of that.

0:13:020:13:05

The crew then manoeuvre the ladder

0:13:190:13:21

up to where James and Liam are anxiously waiting.

0:13:210:13:23

The thick smoke is choking them.

0:13:230:13:25

Chris goes up the ladder to rescue the boys.

0:13:280:13:32

I got to the top of the ladder and spoke

0:13:320:13:34

to the younger of the two boys.

0:13:340:13:36

He was quite frightened, understandably.

0:13:360:13:38

Smoke was coming out around them.

0:13:380:13:40

His brother was remarkably calm.

0:13:400:13:42

Chris decides to take Liam down first.

0:13:420:13:45

He let me go first,

0:13:450:13:46

probably because I'm the younger one and I was the more panicky one.

0:13:460:13:49

The fire service camera shows Liam in the white top being helped out of

0:13:500:13:55

the burning house by Chris.

0:13:550:13:56

We were on the third floor, so it was extremely scary.

0:14:030:14:08

He was obviously quite shaky when he got onto the ladder.

0:14:080:14:11

People do, obviously, have a tendency to panic

0:14:120:14:15

and the last thing you want is for someone to jump.

0:14:150:14:18

They, like, supported us.

0:14:180:14:20

They was behind us, holding on to us,

0:14:200:14:22

making sure we don't fall.

0:14:220:14:24

Liam's safely down.

0:14:250:14:27

With the room getting smokier,

0:14:270:14:29

James has had to wait a further tense minute for rescue.

0:14:290:14:32

But he's calm to the end.

0:14:320:14:34

But as Chris races back up the ladder,

0:14:400:14:43

the smoke increases violently, engulfing James.

0:14:430:14:46

Cos I couldn't breathe,

0:14:460:14:48

I felt really dizzy and I thought I was going to collapse.

0:14:480:14:51

James has to turn to face the smoke to get out of the window.

0:14:530:14:58

He's got one foot on the ladder, but disorientated, he stumbles.

0:14:580:15:02

To stop him from falling,

0:15:050:15:07

firefighter Chris reacts quickly and pulls him towards him.

0:15:070:15:11

Cos we were quite high up and I wanted to make sure

0:15:110:15:14

that he wasn't going to be getting dizzy or falling off the ladder.

0:15:140:15:17

It's been 14 minutes since the boys discovered the fire.

0:15:170:15:21

Finally, they're both safely out of the burning house.

0:15:210:15:25

Yeah, I thought I was extremely lucky to get out there safe.

0:15:250:15:28

I don't know what would have happened if Liam didn't wake me up.

0:15:280:15:32

With the boys safe, the fire service call mum Sarah at her work

0:15:340:15:38

to let her know what's happened.

0:15:380:15:40

When I got the phone call, I couldn't really believe

0:15:400:15:44

what was happening. When I arrived, I ran to the ambulance and I jumped

0:15:440:15:49

in there and Liam started crying, but James was OK.

0:15:490:15:52

He was calm as usual.

0:15:520:15:53

It was just... Just a relief to get back to them.

0:15:540:15:57

She gave us a hug, said, "You're all right."

0:15:570:16:01

I told them I loved them.

0:16:010:16:02

Physically, Liam has suffered worse from the fire.

0:16:040:16:07

He's taken to hospital and given oxygen

0:16:070:16:10

to counteract the effects of the smoke.

0:16:100:16:12

But, after four hours, he leaves with a clean bill of health.

0:16:120:16:17

Fire investigation later reveals all this was caused by a toaster.

0:16:170:16:22

We lost everything. My family were safe...

0:16:230:16:27

and that's all we really need. Everything else can be replaced.

0:16:270:16:31

The family have now moved into a new home.

0:16:330:16:35

The two boys both received medals for bravery

0:16:370:16:39

and James was commended for his calmness in a crisis.

0:16:390:16:44

I honestly don't think either of them realise

0:16:440:16:47

how brave they were that day.

0:16:470:16:49

To be able to climb out of that window, three storeys down,

0:16:490:16:52

on a ladder when your house is on fire -

0:16:520:16:55

that's brave.

0:16:550:16:56

Coming up - a high-speed collision on the slopes, and a friend's battle

0:17:070:17:12

to get an injured snowboarder down the mountain.

0:17:120:17:15

The worrying thing, it was his head, I mean, he could have passed out on,

0:17:150:17:19

maybe, a 50-foot drop.

0:17:190:17:20

In Fethiye, Turkey, paraglider instructor Sam is about to crash-land after

0:17:280:17:33

his main canopy collapsed on the way down from 6,000 feet.

0:17:330:17:39

I couldn't steer my reserve parachute out of the trouble

0:17:390:17:41

that I was heading into, which was a load of rocks.

0:17:410:17:44

There was a clearing and some very large cedar trees.

0:17:440:17:47

I actually wanted to land in the tree at that point,

0:17:470:17:50

cos the rocks didn't look too nice.

0:17:500:17:52

But with no steering, it's down to fate.

0:17:530:17:55

He's in danger of being impaled by the trees,

0:17:550:17:58

or plunging straight through them to the forest floor.

0:17:580:18:01

I knew I was going in.

0:18:010:18:02

When you're in that kind of thing,

0:18:040:18:06

you've got instinct and a gut desire to survive.

0:18:060:18:09

I was, like, "Please!"

0:18:090:18:11

Sam's camera captures the heart-stopping moment

0:18:130:18:15

he plunges into the trees, praying they'll break his fall.

0:18:150:18:19

His luck holds - he's caught by the branches of a huge cedar tree.

0:18:220:18:27

I landed in the tree 60 foot up, which was another worry.

0:18:270:18:31

The first thing I did was check all my body parts to make sure

0:18:310:18:34

I hadn't had a strike while I was full of adrenaline,

0:18:340:18:36

and you don't feel anything initially.

0:18:360:18:38

Then I started looking around to see how securely I was fastened.

0:18:380:18:41

My reserve parachute had sort of landed behind me

0:18:440:18:47

and the glider had landed in front.

0:18:470:18:49

So, I was spread across, like, two trees, really.

0:18:490:18:52

Sam is dangling above a 60-foot drop

0:18:520:18:54

and can't get out of his harness.

0:18:540:18:57

He's not safe and he knows it.

0:18:570:18:59

He's in a frightening and precarious position,

0:18:590:19:02

but manages to get a phone signal.

0:19:020:19:04

His friend at the landing point, Murat Tuzer,

0:19:180:19:20

is part of the local rescue team,

0:19:200:19:22

but he's more than two hours away over difficult terrain

0:19:220:19:26

and Sam might not have that long.

0:19:260:19:28

I started slipping, I almost ended up sideways,

0:19:280:19:30

almost hanging upside down, staring down 60 foot at the ground.

0:19:300:19:36

I thought it was a good time to call my girlfriend and just tell her I

0:19:360:19:39

love her because I wasn't too sure how this was going to play out.

0:19:390:19:42

3,000 miles away, back in Yorkshire,

0:19:430:19:46

Ali takes a call she'll never forget.

0:19:460:19:48

The first thing he said to me was, "Hi, I'm OK.

0:19:480:19:52

"I'm OK." Which I thought, "Oh, that's a bit of a strange one."

0:19:520:19:56

And then he proceeded to sort of,

0:19:560:19:57

sort of unravel that he was up this tree.

0:19:570:20:00

And she said, "Oh, no. Are you OK?"

0:20:000:20:03

And I said, "Yes, I'm OK."

0:20:030:20:05

I wasn't, but I didn't want her to worry too much.

0:20:050:20:07

I just thought, "I'd like to hear your voice and, you know,

0:20:080:20:11

"tell you that I love you."

0:20:110:20:13

Which really made me worry, because I thought, "You don't ring someone

0:20:130:20:17

"to say that unless you're worried yourself."

0:20:170:20:19

And he's usually quite in control, so if he's worried, I'm worried.

0:20:190:20:23

Sam rings off to keep his phone clear.

0:20:230:20:26

His wait for rescue is agonising.

0:20:260:20:29

He's unsure how long the branches can hold his 17½ stone weight

0:20:290:20:33

and the temperature is a searing 40 degrees.

0:20:330:20:37

So after waiting for an hour and a half and I still hadn't seen anybody

0:20:370:20:41

or heard anything, and I'd actually run out of water,

0:20:410:20:44

I was starting to worry about my situation from the point of view of

0:20:440:20:48

possibly spending the whole night up the tree. And whether they'd

0:20:480:20:52

actually find me or not was also starting to be a worry.

0:20:520:20:56

Then the radio Sam's carrying crackles into life.

0:20:560:20:59

It's his friend Murat with a search party of seven, including paramedics.

0:20:590:21:03

I tried to explain that I was on the north side of the mountain,

0:21:030:21:07

probably two-thirds of the way down, in a tree

0:21:070:21:09

and I think I was at the head of an old, dried up gorge.

0:21:090:21:13

So I gave them that information.

0:21:130:21:15

And then, I... Eventually, another ten minutes or so,

0:21:150:21:18

I could start hearing voices shouting to each other

0:21:180:21:20

and that gave me a real sense of hope.

0:21:200:21:22

It's another 30 minutes before Murat and the search party find Sam.

0:21:230:21:27

First reaction, of course, we're happy we see him and then we're

0:21:280:21:32

just looking up the tree and discussing how can we help him,

0:21:320:21:36

and then we start climbing up.

0:21:360:21:37

Basically, he free-climbed the tree, 60 foot up to me.

0:21:410:21:45

They may have found him, but getting Sam down safely is another matter.

0:21:450:21:49

He keeps filming.

0:21:490:21:50

Because he is not close to the main tree, he's on the branch,

0:21:500:21:54

and then far from the tree

0:21:540:21:57

in a very tricky place.

0:21:570:21:59

He was just, like, a move at the wrong moment and he can fall down.

0:21:590:22:04

It was 25 metres and this whole rescue can turn into a big disaster.

0:22:040:22:09

Murat needs to attach Sam to the main trunk of the tree with ropes,

0:22:100:22:13

so if he does fall suddenly, it will only be a few feet.

0:22:130:22:17

He throws Sam a line.

0:22:170:22:19

Got it. Yep.

0:22:190:22:20

I managed to clip in and he started helping me get through to the

0:22:210:22:26

'relative safety of the tree trunk.'

0:22:260:22:27

I can come closer to you.

0:22:270:22:29

The team rig up a pulley system to lower Sam to the ground...

0:22:310:22:34

I've got to try and go this side. Wait - slow, slow.

0:22:340:22:37

..but it's not easy.

0:22:380:22:41

OK, no problem.

0:22:410:22:42

'Pushing myself down the tree was very hard,

0:22:420:22:44

'trying to avoid all the branches'

0:22:440:22:46

that were spiky.

0:22:460:22:47

It's no problem, is it?

0:22:490:22:50

And that feeling when I touched the ground was just like...

0:22:500:22:54

You know, I could have...

0:22:540:22:56

I could have kissed the ground.

0:22:560:22:57

No bother.

0:22:570:22:59

The team help Sam out of his harness,

0:23:040:23:06

give him water and a medic checks him over.

0:23:060:23:09

Amazingly, he's escaped with no injuries.

0:23:100:23:14

Yo! I'm perfect.

0:23:140:23:16

HE SPEAKS TURKISH

0:23:160:23:17

And once Sam's off the mountain, his first task is to text Ali.

0:23:170:23:21

And a few days later, back in Britain, they're reunited.

0:23:230:23:27

Yeah, she was just very pleased to see me, as I was her.

0:23:270:23:30

Both know how lucky he's been.

0:23:300:23:32

Yeah, I think it shook him up a bit.

0:23:320:23:34

I won't count my chickens, but I do think he is calming down a bit.

0:23:340:23:38

I consider myself extremely lucky to still be alive after that.

0:23:390:23:43

Actually, you know, reliving it, it does send me...

0:23:430:23:46

Cold shivers thinking about what...what it could have been like.

0:23:470:23:51

The resort of Les Deux Alpes in France.

0:23:580:24:01

A group of friends are on their last day of a snowboarding holiday.

0:24:010:24:04

Adam films himself,

0:24:060:24:07

but his camera's seen something he hasn't -

0:24:070:24:10

another snowboarder, coming up behind at 40mph.

0:24:100:24:16

The crash takes Adam's feet from under him.

0:24:160:24:19

His friends know this is a bad fall.

0:24:190:24:21

You think, "Wow, this could be really dangerous."

0:24:210:24:24

35-year-old English language teacher Adam lives with his girlfriend

0:24:310:24:35

in Portsmouth. They've just had some great news.

0:24:350:24:38

My girlfriend and I found out we're expecting our first child.

0:24:380:24:42

He's excited by the prospect of being a dad,

0:24:420:24:44

but realises the new responsibilities will mean

0:24:440:24:47

hanging up his beloved snowboard for a while.

0:24:470:24:49

Knowing I've got a kid on the way, it made me realise that, you know,

0:24:510:24:54

I really had to make this time count and enjoy it,

0:24:540:24:56

cos I might not get to do it for a little while.

0:24:560:24:59

For a last holiday with the lads,

0:24:590:25:00

he arranges our week-long break in Les Deux Alpes,

0:25:000:25:03

one of the most famous resorts in France.

0:25:030:25:05

Five of them head off, including best pal Charlie.

0:25:070:25:10

I met Adam 11 years ago on a ski season in Austria.

0:25:100:25:14

And yeah, he's an all-round nice guy.

0:25:140:25:16

They have a great week and decide to make the most of their last day.

0:25:160:25:20

The plan for the day was to kind of go to all the spots we'd found

0:25:220:25:25

that we really liked off-piste, and our favourite pistes,

0:25:250:25:28

and just film it so we had something to document the trip.

0:25:280:25:30

Halfway down one of the slopes, Adam decides to attach his camera

0:25:320:25:35

to a selfie stick so he can film himself in reverse.

0:25:350:25:39

The lads in the group, they just sped off and I sat down and I set up

0:25:390:25:41

the camera, and then I went down behind them about a minute after.

0:25:410:25:45

So I set off, and then the first thing I knew

0:25:470:25:50

about the other person was the moment of impact.

0:25:500:25:52

He's barely got going when another snowboarder

0:25:580:26:01

comes down behind him at speed - around 40mph.

0:26:010:26:05

Adam can't see him and has no time to brace for the collision.

0:26:050:26:08

He's sent flying, but the other boarder carries on.

0:26:110:26:14

My face was hurting, and I looked down and I saw the blood.

0:26:180:26:21

Kind of grabbed my face at first,

0:26:230:26:24

like, checking I hadn't knocked out my teeth.

0:26:240:26:26

That was the first thing I thought had happened.

0:26:260:26:28

At the bottom of the slope,

0:26:280:26:30

Adam's friend Charlie realises something is wrong.

0:26:300:26:33

Looked behind me and saw Adam had unstrapped his board.

0:26:330:26:38

And we could see his face was just covered in blood - just red.

0:26:380:26:43

You think, "Wow, this could be really dangerous."

0:26:430:26:47

Adam's split his lip and broken his nose.

0:26:470:26:49

He photographs his injuries, but they're too gory to show in full.

0:26:490:26:53

He's also badly injured his wrist and might have unseen head injuries.

0:26:530:26:58

He needs medical attention now.

0:26:580:27:00

His friends decide to take Adam down the mountain by chairlift,

0:27:000:27:03

but that's dangerous, too.

0:27:030:27:06

The worrying thing, it was his head.

0:27:060:27:07

I mean, he could have passed out on, maybe, a 50-foot drop.

0:27:070:27:11

And if he had passed out,

0:27:110:27:14

it would have been quite hard to sort of keep him in,

0:27:140:27:16

on the chairlift I guess.

0:27:160:27:18

He's, er...not the smallest guy.

0:27:180:27:20

Charlie has to prop up his friend all the way.

0:27:210:27:24

Adam is treated at the local hospital.

0:27:240:27:27

The injuries that I got from this accident - I broke my nose,

0:27:270:27:32

I had ten stitches going from outside of my lip into my gum.

0:27:320:27:36

And then also broke my wrist and I've now got two metal plates.

0:27:360:27:40

It's not been the pre-baby trip Adam envisaged.

0:27:410:27:44

Knowing that we had a child coming,

0:27:440:27:46

I was being more cautious when I was snowboarding,

0:27:460:27:48

so it's just unfortunate that this accident happened.

0:27:480:27:51

It's going to be a while before I get back on the slopes,

0:27:530:27:55

but I'll definitely be snowboarding again one day.

0:27:550:27:58

Three very different stories today and that's all for now.

0:28:050:28:08

Join us next time for more extraordinary accounts

0:28:080:28:11

from people who've had a close call.

0:28:110:28:12

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS