Episode 1 Close Calls: On Camera

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

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

A split second where the outcome could go either way.

It's a choice, life or death.

The difference between disaster and survival.

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

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

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

It's a day they will never forget.

The day they had a close call.

Today on Close Calls: a burning car on a motorway.

A woman is trapped inside.

Drivers speed past unaware...

until one couple stop and risk their own lives to help.

We feared it would explode.

People were shouting, "It's going to blow up, it's going to blow up."

Also today, a teenage adventurer

poses beneath an Antarctic ice arch

to highlight global warming.

What he doesn't know is that minutes later, tonnes of ice will come

crashing down.

It sounded like a massive bang going off,

louder than anything I've ever heard before.

And a family beachcombing along the shoreline discover an object

covered in strange barnacles.

We'd never seen anything like it before.

Our mind was so focused on them we didn't take notice of what they were actually on.

But the family soon find out the terrifying secret

of the object beneath.

Me and Kelly had a little look at each other's eyes

and realised how close we came.

Manchester, the M60 motorway.

A traffic camera is about to capture a life or death drama.

The car slowly edging onto the slip road has caught fire.

The driver is 73-year-old Anne Wade.

The smoke started to come out from under the bonnet.

Then a few seconds later, flames came out.

Anne is forced to stop in the exit lane.

She's in the way of speeding traffic and her car's on fire.

She is in serious danger.

I tried to open the door and it wouldn't open.

The electrics have failed, the fire is growing more intense.

Anne is trapped in her burning car.

It was flames in front of the windscreen.

Another couple of minutes and I'd have been dead.

Her only hope is that one of the drivers racing past stops to help.

Pensioner Anne Wade lives in Liverpool.

A widow for 17 years, she's used to doing things for herself.

People tell me I'm very independent.

I just get on with things on my own,

like buying this house and renovating it.

People used to say, "You'll never do that, you'll never do that."

But I do.

But one December day, Anne is suddenly plunged into an emergency

where she is truly helpless.

It's just past midday and Anne is on her way home after a pre-Christmas

visit to see her daughter and grandchildren in Leeds.

Her journey takes her along the busy M60 motorway.

I must have been driving for 40 years.

I've never had any problems with my car before now.

But today that's about to change.

Dramatically.

The heating packed up.

Two or three miles later,

the steering and the brake wouldn't work.

The smoke started to come out from under the bonnet.

And then a few seconds later, flames came out.

And it all happened very fast.

This footage from a Highways Agency traffic camera

captures what happens next.

The flames from Anne's car are clearly visible as she comes round

the bend. Limping along, she just about manages

to get her car to the side of the road.

But there's no hard shoulder,

so she's come to a halt on the slip road.

It wasn't a place where you'd choose to stop.

Suddenly the flames intensify.

Anne has no option - she has to get out.

But there's a problem.

I tried to open the door and it wouldn't open.

The window wouldn't open - nothing would work, you know?

And it had locked down.

To her horror, Anne realises that she is now trapped,

locked inside a burning car.

I thought, I'll dial 999,

so I was looking in my handbag for my phone and I thought,

this is ridiculous. They won't get here in time.

Anne desperately needs help.

But no-one's stopping.

Until, on his way home from work in his pick-up truck,

supermarket supervisor Will Edwards

and his girlfriend Alison come into view.

Their arrival is a key moment for Anne.

The couple stop.

All we saw was her literally with her head on the steering wheel.

It was a bit of panic, really,

that somebody was still actually in the car.

Nobody had stopped and helped. That was shocking.

So we had to do something.

But it's only a matter of seconds before they all begin to fear

-it's too late.

-I couldn't see what was going on,

it was flames in front of the windscreen.

It was petrifying.

And we just knew that we had to get her out.

Later, risking his own life in a bid to save Anne,

Will is seriously injured.

The glass is shattered and the force at which I hit it,

my hands just carried on.

There was a massive hole in his hand where the blood was

gushing out from, his hand had actually gone blue.

Coming up, a family make an unusual find during a day out at the beach.

Ellis thought it was a volcano and I thought that it was a buoy.

We'd never seen anything like it before.

They were shell-like creatures,

but they had little tentacles that were coming in and out.

But the danger doesn't lie in the creatures.

It's what they're clinging to.

The Arctic Ocean, just off the coast of Greenland.

And a spectacular ice arch, 100 metres high.

Posing beneath is 15-year-old adventurer Tybalt Peake.

But he doesn't realise the danger he's in.

It sounded like a massive bomb going off.

Louder than anything I've ever heard before.

The arch collapses.

Teenager Tybalt Peake lives in the village of Capel Curig,

deep in the heart of Snowdonia,

surrounded by the hills and mountains of north Wales.

Growing up here has given Tybalt an unquenchable love of nature.

My family have always just been into the outdoors.

I was put on a ski slope and on a bike at a young age,

so it's just always been something I've done.

My main hobbies are climbing, skiing, mountain biking, kayaking,

going camping, jumping off bridges, swimming in the river.

Just anything active and outdoorsy, really.

For long-suffering mum Alice,

keeping tabs on Tybalt has been difficult.

I think Tybalt has scared me from almost the moment he could move.

Even when he could crawl he seemed to managed to crawl outside

and pull himself into a tree. He's a constant stress!

He was terrible at school.

He was constantly running away.

Being in a classroom for Tybalt is like some kind of torture.

You know, if they left him for one second,

he'd just run off into the wilderness.

So Alice struck a deal with Tybalt.

If he agreed to be home-schooled and work hard,

then she would allow him to go off on his various adventures and

expeditions.

I imagined that at some point he would stop.

But now I think he's not going to grow out of it.

She's just now kind of accepted that this is how I want to live my life

and allows me to do that.

It feels much easier with my daughter, who plays the harp!

You know, I have to drive her to some concerts!

Campaigning against climate change is one of Tybalt's passions and he's

excited when he hears two family friends,

Frances Bran and Christina Sheller,

are attempting to sail the Northwest Passage.

It's a challenging sea route linking the Northern Atlantic and Pacific

oceans through the Arctic Ocean.

Only a handful of boats make it through each year,

but he's determined to go with them.

The Arctic's a very interesting place to me.

I asked if I could crew for them,

they were looking for a third person and surprisingly, they said yes.

Also surprisingly, so did Mum.

At 15, Tybalt would be the youngest sailor to attempt the Northwest Passage.

Well, for weeks I was just racked with,

"Have I done the right thing?"

It's completely irresponsible to let him do it.

But he was so happy and I guess, you know,

because he was so unhappy at school that it was an amazing thing just to

give in, to let him be who he wanted to be.

And for the next few months on the 6,000-mile voyage

aboard the 49-foot Snow Dragon II, Tybalt was in his element,

often filming his journey.

We are literally in the middle of the ice.

But it's a hostile environment and unwittingly,

Tybalt puts himself in real danger,

when his crew and another yacht they are travelling with find

a spectacular ice arch.

You do come across iceberg arches, but this was massive.

It was 100 metres out of the water, unlike anything we'd ever seen.

As a representative of a climate change charity,

Tybalt decides this is a perfect photo opportunity

to help promote the cause.

I thought it'd be awesome to get some pictures with me and

-my banner under the iceberg.

-On his own, Tybalt boats over

to the arch in the yacht's small motor dinghy.

I took some pictures and messed about around there.

But he's constantly aware of the threat of moving ice.

It was going through my head, "What would happen if this collapsed?"

I knew I would be crushed and that would be the end of me.

So it was pretty nerve-racking.

It's occurred to Tybalt's sailing companions too.

And after a few minutes, they anxiously call him back.

I hopped back on the big boat and we were going to move on

and then all of a sudden, the whole thing just came crashing down.

With Tybalt safely back on board,

the others film from the yacht as bigger and bigger slabs of ice start

falling off the arch.

As the ice crashes into the sea,

they stop filming to move the boat to a safer distance.

But Tybalt manages to take some photographs of what happens next.

The arch completely collapses.

Hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of ice came crashing down off it.

It sounded like a massive bomb going off.

Louder than anything I've ever heard before.

Chillingly, it's where Tybalt was only moments before.

If I were still under the arch when it collapsed,

I would have been killed instantly from the impact.

It would have been like a building just falling straight on someone.

It's a pretty weird experience thinking, like,

had I done something slightly slower this morning or had I woken up

10 minutes later, I would have been killed.

Tybalt's lucky he made it back to the yacht

and wasn't still in the dinghy.

There was a four-metre wake that came straight off the iceberg

from the collapse. The boat was rocking and the wake would have just

flipped the dinghy and I would have been in the water and in a few

minutes, you're going to be dead and you're paralysed almost instantly.

I mean, the water's about -1.

Perhaps wisely, he waits a few weeks

before sending the pictures of what happened to Mum.

If that had fallen and he was underneath it,

there's no way you would have found him.

He'd have just been taken down to the bottom of the ocean and I just

wanted him home by then.

I just...was desperate. I just wanted him off that boat.

But it's an agonising wait for Mum while Tybalt

completes the four-month trip.

When I picked him up it was just, like, incredible to see him again

and just to hug him and feel he was all bony.

Being away from my family was pretty challenging for four months.

That was one of the toughest parts.

And also, you know, he'd succeeded and that was

very exciting.

Tybalt has become the youngest sailor to successfully complete the

Northwest Passage, but he'll be a lot more careful on his next trip.

I will be going back to the Arctic, but obviously,

I'll be steering well clear of the iceberg arches, I think.

That was, you know, too close, really,

and I don't want it to happen again, that's for sure.

When disaster strikes, the emergency services are only a phone call away.

But when seconds are at stake,

it's often members of the public who step in to save the day.

Back on the M60 near Manchester,

pensioner Anne is trapped in her car as other drivers race past.

The motorway's CCTV captures the smoke and flames engulfing her.

Shocked by the scene, Will Edwards and his girlfriend Alison

have just approached and passed her in their pick-up truck.

It was a normal day and then we came across Anne.

At the side, you could see the flames coming out and also

from the side of the car, just under the wheel arch.

Wow, you know? Where is the person that that car belongs to?

There was nobody over the barrier or anywhere on the highway

that we could see at the side

and that's when we checked the car when we drove past.

And that's when we saw Anne.

All we was her literally with her head on the steering wheel.

It was a bit of a panic, really,

that somebody was still actually in the car.

Nobody had stopped and helped.

That was shocking. So we had to do something.

There was no way that either of us would have driven on and left her in

that vehicle.

Will and Alison pull up a short distance ahead of Anne's car.

Will runs to her. That's him in the yellow jacket.

The initial thought wasn't to call for the emergency services,

it was to get the woman out of the car,

because we feared it would explode.

At that moment, Will knocked on the window.

She just looked at me in shock.

He was trying to tell me to open the lock and I was trying to

tell him I couldn't. You know, it wasn't working.

She needed to pull the door lock up inside the car,

but she just couldn't understand what I was trying to say to her.

With every second critical,

Will realises he'll have to smash the window

so he can pull the lock himself.

He was trying to break the window with his elbow and he couldn't.

It felt like a brick wall. It wasn't working.

My elbow just kept on bouncing back off.

Alison runs to the car to see if she can help.

The smoke was beginning to fill the inside of the car.

It was making my chest feel quite tight.

We just knew that we had to get her out.

Anne's now been in the burning car for two minutes.

While Will rushes back to his pick-up

to search for something to break the glass, Alison stays with her.

I couldn't just run back and leave her on her own.

She looked fearful more than anything about what was happening.

But Alison is forced back by the choking smoke.

Other drivers begin to pull over to help.

One of them dials 999.

A fire and rescue crew from Salford station head to the scene,

led by Mark Humphries.

In terms of car fires, 10 a penny.

But obviously, once you receive information that

there's somebody possibly in the vehicle,

everybody sort of steps up a gear, really,

and we start planning for that en route to the incident.

But with heavy traffic, it's tough getting there

and Mark can see the smoke from Anne's car on the horizon.

The volume of smoke that was coming from the vehicle,

I thought that if anybody was in there,

then their chances of survival were slim.

Back at the roadside, the flames are becoming even more ferocious.

It was petrifying.

-ANNE:

-I couldn't see what was going on in front of me.

There was flames in front of the windscreen.

But I knew that if I waited around any longer,

Anne may not have been around any longer.

Searching frantically in his truck, Will finds a metal wheel brace.

He then runs back to Anne. Several other motorists join them.

I heard people shouting,

"Oh, it's going to blow up, it's going to blow up!" You know?

He had no fear for his own life whatsoever.

He just wanted to get Anne out of that car.

The first thing he said to me was, "Turn your head away."

The footage shows the moment Will strikes the glass with the brace.

It took him three goes...

..to smash the window in.

The glass is shattered and the force at which I've hit it,

my hands just carried on going through the glass.

Will hasn't realised he's injured himself.

He tries to lift the door lock to release Anne, but finds he can't.

His hand wasn't working.

In breaking the window, Will has seriously damaged his right hand.

I then realised that I needed to go in with my other hand and then

proceeded to open the door lock.

At last, Anne is free.

The other passers-by rush in to help carry her to safety.

I got out of the car pretty quickly and I was quite happy, I'll say!

What a lovely young man, coming to my rescue.

But a rescuer is now in need of help himself.

I didn't feel any pain when I first cut my hand, and then,

blood started coming out of it very quickly.

There was a massive hole in his hand.

There was actually a gentleman that pulled up behind our car

that had a first aid kit in his car

and if it hadn't been for him wrapping Will's hand up like he did,

he would have genuinely lost his hand that day.

It was to the point where, where the blood was gushing out from,

his hand had actually gone blue.

While other drivers help Will, a truck driver stops and tries,

unsuccessfully, to put out the blaze with a small extinguisher.

Minutes later, Mark's fire crew arrive.

-MARK HUMPHRIES:

-The whole front compartment of the car

was engulfed in flames. And it's beyond a doubt

that if anyone had still been in that vehicle,

then they wouldn't have survived.

The fire is eventually put out by a firefighter

wearing breathing apparatus.

I just thought, "I'm glad I got out of that."

I was shivering a bit.

I suppose that was shock.

Firefighter Mark Canary checks to see how Anne is.

She did tell me that she'd taken quite a bit of smoke in,

so she was quite disorientated.

And obviously that's quite damaging to the body,

especially to the lungs.

-ANNE:

-It felt uncomfortable breathing in and out.

It was a bit... It felt a bit tight.

I administered them with oxygen therapy,

which we'd always do if anybody's breathed in

any toxic fumes or smoke.

And that's when the fireman said to me that a couple more minutes

and I would have been dead.

Another firefighter tends to Will.

He restrapped my hand.

You know, he was part of the trauma team, I believe.

-He looked at my hand.

-And that's when he noticed that

the wound to Will's hand was that severe,

you could actually see the bones through the skin.

Within minutes, ambulances arrive to take Anne and Will to Salford Hospital.

When I got to the hospital,

I was on oxygen and a nebuliser and all sorts.

But Will needs immediate emergency surgery on his injured right hand.

He severed the tendon smashing through Anne's car window.

The operation is a success and, after two months,

he makes a full recovery.

Will was very, very brave.

It's almost impossible to say how thankful I am.

The injury is more than worth it, you know.

I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The chief of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service also recognised

Will's actions by awarding him a certificate of bravery.

And now he's got a taste for it, Will wants to be a fireman.

I think helping people is in my nature and

I don't think of any other better way than,

you know, doing what they do.

Burry Port, South Wales.

A family enjoying a day at the beach

comes across some strange sea creatures

attached to what looks like a buoy washed up on the shore.

We'd never seen anything like it before.

They were, like, shell-like creatures.

They had little tentacles that were coming in and out.

Our mind was so focused on them,

we didn't take notice of what they were actually on.

If they had, the family might have taken more care.

That's not a buoy, it's a bomb.

Burry Port in Carmarthenshire is a small town

on the south coast of Wales.

It is also a home to dad Gareth,

rugby fan Ellis, aged four,

mum Kelly and six-year-old Erin.

We are a young family. We enjoy going out to the seaside.

We tend to visit our local beach quite often.

We are quite an inquisitive family,

so there's always things washed up there.

And one glorious August day,

there's simply nowhere else they'd rather be.

The family head off with their swimsuits and beach toys

for a fun day out together.

The main beach was busy, so we decided to, sort of,

set up our things a little bit away from there.

As we were walking across, we seen a large metal object on the beach.

And then Daddy said, "What's that thing over there?"

And then Ellis thought that it was a volcano,

and I thought that it was a buoy,

and Mummy thought that it was a buoy.

But it's what's clinging to the object that catches their attention.

We'd never seen anything like it before.

They were, like, shell-like creatures.

They had little tentacles that were coming in and out.

They looked like mini octopuses, really, the eggs.

And there were really long ones, the black long ones.

We were playing with the kids,

pretending it was a big sea alien, there,

and they were popping in and out their tentacles.

I touched them and they went in quick.

Ellis was tapping on them and he was knocking on this object.

Well, our minds were so focused on them,

we didn't take notice of what they were actually on.

The family are so fascinated by what they've found,

Gareth videos it on his phone, and takes a series of photographs,

and when he gets home, he puts them on social media.

There was a lot of people commenting on them,

saying how gruesome they looked

and no-one had ever seen them in Burry Port before.

And later on that night,

I saw a news article and there was a sea buoy washed up in Pembury,

which is a couple of miles away from where we live

with all these rare barnacles on them.

The barnacles that we had seen were rare gooseneck barnacles and

they were a rare delicacy in Spain and worth quite a lot of money.

So we were laughing and joking about how we didn't cash in on it.

But five days later, they get a shock.

I had a phone call off my friend

saying that they had closed off the beach

in Burry Port due to an unexploded military device.

Some people had posted photographs of this explosive device and

it turned out that it was actually the same thing

that my children playing with.

It was quite a shock to the system, to be honest.

It was terrifying, actually,

to think that my children were so close to that device.

To think that my son was knocking on it,

he was playing with the barnacles...

And it could have just exploded.

And they get to witness what could have happened that day.

We hear then that there was going to be a controlled detonation of

the bomb that evening at six o'clock,

so we went down to have a little look.

Down at the beach, a member of the public

films the Royal Navy bomb squad assessing the unexploded device.

It turns out to be an old sea mine.

It's too unsafe to move,

so the decision is taken to destroy it on the beach.

Half the town turns out to watch.

There was police there, there was coastguard there,

a bomb squad, so the kids were quite excited.

They'd cordoned off the area completely

and they were warning people to stay away.

With everybody at a safe distance, one of the crowd films the event.

And at 6pm, it's time to set the bomb off.

As the bomb went off, the ground shook.

I didn't expect the explosion to be as big as what it was.

We could actually feel the explosion in your chest.

A tiny bit scary, because it was a big bomb.

When it went bang, I nearly fell off Daddy's shoulders.

She sort of looked, and she said,

I'm glad that didn't go off when we were there last week, Mummy.

Me and Kelly had a little look in each other's eyes and realised

-how close we came.

-It was quite a frightening experience.

But the family haven't let it put them off going to their favourite local beach.

Little Ellis, I think he wants me to buy him a metal detector

-to go looking for more bombs now.

-The children love it,

but we definitely will be more mindful in future.

Some really close calls today, but all with remarkably good outcomes.

See you next time.