Episode 7 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 when 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'll never forget.

The day they had a close call.

Today on Close Calls...

a quiet London street.

A dad's on his way to watch football on TV.

A bus is gradually inching its way around the parked car.

Then this.

It just happened, you know, in a second.

Like a flash - boom.

That's the end of it. I'm dead.

The truly shocking accident leaves former London Underground

worker Hussain fighting for his life.

He said, I think I'm going.

Like, you know... Like he was dying.

And his family traumatised.

His right leg was twisted.

His flesh was torn out.

I have probably lost, you know,

the only person I've looked up to and idolised.

You know, just like that.

Also today, professional surfer Tom

skims past a Jet Ski with inches to spare.

But, as he heads to safety,

a wave scoops it up and sends it hurtling back towards him.

I just looked up and I saw a Jet Ski.

All happens in like a flash.

His friend, only metres away, fears the worst.

Suddenly I couldn't see Tom.

I asked myself, "Is something serious going down?"

"Is this it?"

On Close Calls, we've had some extraordinary stories,

none more so perhaps than today.

This next one involves a truly shocking freak accident

and it's a miracle the victim is still here to tell the tale.

Beckton, East London.

The security camera records a sunny September afternoon,

as a little girl plays in the street.

Arsenal fan Hussain Musoke is on his way to his brother's

to watch football.

I heard this crushing sound behind and then, as I turned,

it was upon me.

Hussain lies trapped under the car.

Critically injured.

53-year-old Hussain lives in Beckton, East London.

He's a full-time carer for his wife, Janet,

who suffers from dementia.

For me, my family comes first.

My wife, you know, I met her when she was 14, actually.

You know, we started going out back in Uganda.

We have been together for 34 years now.

So when she fell sick, I had to give up everything and look after her.

Before dedicating his life to Janet,

Hussain worked on the London Underground as a station assistant.

Every day, you know, it's a different story.

Every day, you met different people

and generally I loved it, you know, yeah.

But now his main focus is his family, including his five children.

The eldest is 28-year-old Ismail.

My father's a cool guy, you know what I mean?

Like, he's a cool dad. He is my Superman, you could say.

Yeah.

Ismail has happy childhood memories.

Dad brought us up really well, you know.

Manners, be respectful for others, you know,

and treat each other with respect and love.

Hussain's 20-year-old daughter, Sanyu, also adores her dad.

He means everything to me.

You know, I admire him so much.

He's a very strong inspiration.

He's very instrumental into the character that I am today.

Apart from his family, Hussain's other love is Arsenal Football Club.

I have been a supporter for Arsenal

since I came in this country in 1989.

I think it's in my blood.

I love them to bits and, yeah, it gives me something.

You know what I mean? I can't explain it enough.

Whenever I watch Arsenal, you're just... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes.

One Saturday in autumn, Hussain sets off to his brother's house

to watch his beloved Arsenal play on TV.

I told him,

OK, let me finish up whatever I was doing and then I will join you.

Just after midday, he leaves his home to head for his brother's.

A few doors down he passes a neighbour's house

whose home security camera

is capturing the activity in the street.

Just out of shot, another of Hussain's neighbours,

his good pal, Peter Brown,

is keeping an eye on his eight-year-old granddaughter

playing in the afternoon sun.

We was out the front, me and my son and my granddaughter.

I was talking to my son at the gate.

My granddaughter was on the roller skates.

Peter notices a bus

struggling to get down the narrow single-file road.

Its path is blocked by an oncoming car.

The car started to reverse back.

Peter's young granddaughter is now further down the street.

But as the traffic continues to manoeuvre, Hussain appears in shot.

Behind him, the bus is starting to edge forward.

I see the bus just come towards us.

Hussain is oblivious as the bus suddenly speeds up.

He doesn't stand a chance.

I heard this crushing sound behind and then I turned my head.

As I turned my head, you know, this car was upon me.

It couldn't give me no time even to run or do anything.

As I turned, and it...was upon me.

The single-decker bus accelerates,

crashing into a parked car and shunting it into Hussain.

And then threw me next to the metal gates there.

Weighing over a tonne and with the weight of the bus behind it,

the car pushes Hussain against wrought-iron metal gates,

which collapse.

He's knocked forward and falls to the ground, the car on top of him.

His legs are trapped underneath.

Hussain lands crushed against a row of large plastic bins

and another metal fence.

Just happened in a second.

It was, you know, the car was just, you know,

next to me like in a flash.

You know, boom. Then I thought, "Oh, probably, you know,

"it's the end of it. I'm dead."

We were just all screaming. We was all screaming and ran to him.

I thought that was the end of him, yeah.

Easy. It hit him with such a force.

It was so hard. It hit him with such a force.

All you could see was his head at the top of the car.

I thought he was finished.

Hearing the crash, two neighbours rush out of their homes

and over to the site of the accident.

They desperately drag the bins away.

Incredibly, they find Hussain still alive.

I was still conscious.

I could, you know, see people, you know, coming and

trying to help me out.

Neighbour Shahbaz Khan is one of the first people on the scene.

When I went next to him, he was just saying, "Get the car off me!

"Get the car off me!"

I was, you know, trying to ask them to lift the car off me

because it was kind of, you know, pinning me down.

I could feel the pressure, you know.

I was gasping for air. Air was running out of me.

More neighbours and passers-by gather round the crash,

as well as the shocked bus driver and his passengers.

Peter's son can be seen calling the emergency services.

Peter is with Hussain.

He said, "I think I'm going." Like, you know, like he was dying.

He's a good friend of mine and all.

I speak to him all the time when he comes down the street.

And I thought he was going to die.

Peter and Shahbaz decide to try and lift the car to free Hussain.

He's not only trapped, but it's crushing him.

11 men, including the bus driver, surround the car

and attempt to move it.

It takes all their strength to drag the vehicle just a few inches,

but eventually they lift the front.

They then dash to the other end and lift the back of the car up

and away from him.

Hussain is now free from the one-tonne weight of the car,

but there's another problem.

We couldn't release him too much because his leg

was all wrapped round the bottom of the car.

Hussain's no longer in danger of being suffocated

by the crushing weight, but he has severe chest injuries

and his right leg has been mangled under the car's wheels.

This photo, taken by Peter Brown's son documenting the scene,

shows Shahbaz and neighbours with Hussain,

reassuring him help is on its way.

I could not describe the pain, you know,

because I wasn't feeling anything.

I managed to look at my feet, you know, it was kind of crushed,

my right leg was kind of in a bad shape - blood was coming out.

Hussain is fighting for his life.

Neighbours rush to his house.

One of his daughters, Sanyu, is getting ready to go out.

I immediately from the bathroom called my brother.

I have never heard her scream down the phone like that

so this has to be serious. I just dropped what I had to drop

and got a cab, came straight down.

With her big brother on his way, Sanyu rushes out to find her father.

As she arrives on the scene, so do the paramedics.

It was very shocking to see him like that.

Clearly distressed, Sanyu is comforted by Shahbaz and friends.

His right leg was twisted, his flesh was torn out.

His upper body, he looked fine. He was able to move his hands and stuff

and look around, but he didn't speak at all.

He was very bewildered.

I've never seen my dad look bewildered in my life.

He had nothing to say.

As the paramedics assess Hussain,

Sanyu leans over them so he can see her,

and tries to comfort him.

I was just like, "Dad, I'm here.

"Everything's going to be fine. I'm here. I love you."

I just kept repeating to him that, "I'm here, I'm here."

The next minute, my daughter is crying, you know,

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy."

She was just saying, "Daddy, Daddy."

That's what I could hear, you know, and it kind of assured me, in a way.

That she was there.

If I was to die at least she knew how my life ended, you know.

The team of paramedics work quickly

to make sure Hussain's airflow is not restricted,

which could result in brain damage.

He is now drifting in and out of consciousness.

Hussain's accident is a life-threatening injury

and the speed with which the paramedics responded

and the quality of response is absolutely crucial

in these circumstances.

They gave him painkillers.

They gave him a mask to breathe in, to control his breathing.

Hussain's family, desperately concerned,

can only look on as his distress increases.

A female paramedic gives him oxygen and tries to reassure him.

She was just saying, "Calm down, calm down. Everything is going to be OK.

"Your family is here. We're going to take you to the hospital but, you know,

"first we have to wait for the fire brigade to come and cut the metal."

A fire crew arrives and start to work out how to free Hussain from

underneath the car.

It's then a panicked Ismail arrives and, as these photos show,

he's met by a street in chaos.

The whole road was all blocked off.

I am just like passing through people,

jumping through people trying to see what's going on.

And then I saw my dad laying down there.

I was, like, wow, this is not happening, kind of thing.

This is surreal.

He goes to his father's side.

I was crying myself cos, you know,

I'm not used to such tragic events happening, you know.

I believe he heard me talking, so he squeezed my hand.

I told him to hold my hand and so he squeezed my hand.

As the emergency teams try to help his father,

Ismail is comforted by friends and neighbours.

The paramedics have managed to stabilise Hussain's breathing.

They start to treat his badly injured leg,

but they need more space.

They're obstructed by the metal gates.

The fire service need to remove them fast.

Later, Hussain's family gather at his hospital bedside

as he faces major surgery.

Seeing him there, he looked so helpless.

We didn't know whether, if Dad's going to be OK or not.

But his condition deteriorates rapidly

and doctors are forced to place him in an induced coma.

The last thing I saw were the paramedics, you know.

Didn't know whether that would be the last thing I see before I die.

Nazare on the Portuguese coast.

A cameraman captures the moment surfer Tom Lowe

rides a 30-foot-high wave,

only to come face-to-face at 30 miles an hour with a Jet Ski.

His friend, Nic, watches on in disbelief.

I asked myself, "Is something serious going down? Is this it?"

Tom narrowly misses a full-on collision,

but, as he heads to the beach, the Jet Ski

tumbles violently back towards him.

Just saw it in the corner of my eye and was just, like, "I'm going down."

Tom disappears from sight.

32-year-old Tom Lowe is a professional big wave surfer.

With all my heart, it's like my calling

and I need it to feel whole, really.

Growing up in Cornwall was pretty much a perfect introduction

to beach life and just being outside.

One of Tom's best friends and fellow surfer is 25-year-old Nic von Rupp

from Portugal.

He is just a great guy.

You know, his personality is amazing,

he's a great guy to hang out.

He always has a great story to tell.

He's an overall motivation for me, like a mentor, I'd say.

It's a few days before Christmas and Tom is with Nic in Nazare.

Over the holiday, Tom is planning to surf

the kind of big waves he dreams about.

For the last three or four years, it's been just THE spot in

Europe to go and just tow into huge waves.

That place, it gets ginormous all the time.

It's a wild place to surf.

The surf so far today has been challenging.

I was into a little bit of a flow.

I had wiped out on one.

It is always good to sort of knock the cobwebs off and take some deep

breaths and kind of collect yourself out the back and you feel like,

"OK, now I'm ready to get a good one."

And a good one is coming.

Tom gets ready and the cameraman on the shore starts to film.

I didn't think about anyone else around me at all.

You don't when you're surfing big waves.

You're focused, you're in the zone and you just want to make the drop.

You're going down at hellspeed, you know.

You're flying down this wave,

so you're just looking at your nose and all you want to do

is just keep your eye on the nose of your board

and you don't want it to dig in because then you just go over.

Nic is out shot a few metres away, sitting on his surfboard,

watching Tom.

When he was paddling through that wave, we were cheering him on.

Suddenly, Nic spots something in the water.

Then when I looked down the face, I was, like, "No!"

There's a Jet Ski right in front of the wave.

Now travelling at nearly 30mph, Tom catches sight of it too.

I just looked up and I saw the Jet Ski, simply put,

and somebody on it.

And I'm just, like, "OK, he's actually in the impact zone."

You know, it all happens in, like, a flash.

Tom has to think quickly

to avoid smashing straight into the jet skier,

which could have deadly consequences for them both.

He was in my line, you know.

I wanted to make my line to make the wave and pull off the back.

That's what you're planning. And he was in my line,

so I just kind of steered around him.

Round I went.

Obviously, I was, like, "Jesus! That guy is going to eat it.

"That Ski, see you! That's the Ski done."

Tom just makes it, missing the Jet Ski with only inches to spare.

The driver jumps off his Jet Ski just in time

and dives safely through the wave.

Tom thinks the danger has passed and looks ahead

to the safety of the beach.

My plan was just get out. You know, "I just want to get out.

"I don't know what that is, but maybe I can help in a minute.

"Someone might be in need of some help. Get out."

And I rode and I rode.

Unbeknown to Tom,

the 300kg driverless Jet Ski is hurtling back towards him.

I just saw the big black shape coming at me.

I knew it was the Jet Ski.

And I just saw it in the corner of my eye and I just was, like,

"I'm going down."

Tom disappears from sight.

All of a sudden, I couldn't see Tom.

I ask myself, "Is something serious going down? Is this it?

"Is this the day stuff gets really serious, you know?"

Because you never want it to be the day that an accident happens to

someone close to you.

The Jet Ski is dragging Tom deeper down into the water.

Before I knew it, I was wrapped up in it.

It hit my legs and as it wrapped around it felt like it was...

Whether it was my ten-foot board or the Jet Ski,

it's difficult to know, cos I was rolling underwater,

but things were flying around me.

He fights his way to the surface and, shocked and gasping for breath,

makes his way to the safety of the beach.

Got out and I had a big hole on my board, like, the size of my fist,

from the impact of the Jet Ski hitting it. And that, obviously,

could have been my head.

His friends rush over.

Everyone just hugged each other and said, "Phew! "Everyone good? Are we all good?"

But Nic can tell the near miss has had a real effect on Tom.

I think he didn't say anything because he was just in shock.

When you're in shock, you don't have words to describe.

That's when I realised, like, "Wow! Tom, you almost died, man."

Despite the accident, Tom has kept on surfing.

But he knows he was lucky that day.

Of course I didn't take it light-heartedly.

It's something that I'll never forget and I'm just thankful

we're all in one piece.

Everyone played their part when Hussain Musoke

was critically injured - friends, family and the emergency services.

It really is amazing he survived.

In Beckton, East London,

Hussain is trapped beneath a car

after a terrible accident involving a bus.

He is pinned against metal gates

and paramedics are struggling to treat him.

The fire service have been called in and make short work of the gate

and, within minutes, the obstruction is gone,

leaving the paramedics able to examine Hussain's damaged leg.

The leg, it was an open fracture. The ferocity of the injury

has caused the bones to come out of the skin.

The foot was dragged on the pavement as the car hit Hussain.

So the first thing to do is to assess the leg.

If the leg is very deformed, you straighten it out.

The next thing is that you can see the paramedics irrigating the foot

and if there is a lot of debris from the road which is in the wounds

of the leg, then it's very easy to wash it there and then

and, once that is done, then the leg is splinted.

The paramedics work on Hussain for over an hour.

We talk about the golden hour

in treating multiply-injured patients.

Within that first hour,

there are many things that you need to get right in order

to allow them to have the best possible outcome in the future.

The paramedics have done all they can at the scene.

The last thing I saw were the paramedics, you know, assuring me.

I didn't know whether that would be the last thing I see, you know,

before I die.

Then I passed out.

Hussain is rushed to the Royal London Hospital,

a specialist trauma centre.

Ismail and his sister, Sanyu, follow and join him in A&E.

Seeing him there, that was when my emotions came out,

my sadness and, you know,

me being distraught because he looked so helpless.

That was the first time I broke down, seeing him like that.

Cos they didn't know whether, if Dad's going to be OK or not.

Hussain has multiple fractures in his right leg,

he has two broken ribs, a punctured lung and a leaking heart valve.

He's immediately taken into surgery.

The family can only sit and wait.

If he doesn't pull through this, you know, I have probably lost,

you know, the only person I've looked up to and idolised,

you know, just like that.

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Nima Heidari

is Hussain's consultant.

It is a difficult injury to fix.

The technicalities of putting the bones back together

is not the main issue.

The problem is actually over the long term.

The operation on Hussain's leg lasts for five hours, but it's a success.

Then his condition dramatically deteriorates.

He struggles to breathe and is put into an induced coma.

Because of the multiple fractures that he'd had on his ribs

and the injury to his lung,

he becomes unable to ventilate by himself and he needs assistance.

Hussain remains this way for nearly a month.

That period was emotionally quite hard on the family -

seeing him in a coma.

When the doctors bring him round,

family and friends are by his side.

But on waking, Hussain remembers nothing of the accident.

I just remember, you know, waking up in a hospital.

I said, "What's going on?"

And it was, like, "Hussain, you had an accident for some time.

"I mean, you nearly died." And then I said, "What?"

His children are just delighted to have their dad back.

I was happy that he was able to recognise who I was.

He was smiling and happy and he was so happy to see us.

I just gave him a hug and a kiss and said, "Hey!

"You're still here, you're still fighting, you know?

You know, it's not your time to go, you know?"

After four further operations and more than two months in hospital,

there's finally some good news - he's well enough to go home.

Five months later, Hussain is making good progress with his recovery,

but he still needs round-the-clock care.

He's on crutches now and a wheelchair so, I mean,

it's going to take a very long time.

It's life changing.

I think it's been a very difficult time for Hussain,

there is no doubt about it.

It was a close call for both his life and also his leg.

I don't know what the future holds, you know,

but God has given me another chance to be there for my children,

see them grow.

The freak accident has affected the lives of Hussain's whole family.

He was the full-time carer for his wife and Sanyu has now given up

university to care for both her parents.

My family, we won't function unless we're all together.

Now I'm in the position where I need to fill out what he had been doing,

you know, taking my mum to the hospital

and I have to learn how to drive now.

Hussain's recovery is going to be a long process,

but Dr Heidari is confident about his future.

I'm very hopeful for Hussain.

I'm sure he will do very well in the end.

The bus driver involved in the incident

was fined for careless driving and given five points on his licence

after a court agreed it was a tragic accident.

Now at home, Hussain has been able to go and thank his friends and

neighbours who helped save his life on that horrific day.

I just cuddled him for ages and I was...

It just brought a tear to my eye.

I was so relieved that he was all right.

Honestly, I'm baffled how he's even alive.

I thought at the time it was going to be the end.

It was that close to death and, yeah, I had a narrow escape.

A very brave man.

That's it from Close Calls today. See you next time.