Episode 17 Close Calls: On Camera

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

I could die here. This is really serious.

A split second where the outcome could go either way.

Right, call 999 now.

The difference between disaster and survival.

You could see it on the faces of the crew, how life-threatening this was.

Why would you need to swim?

Apparently they're supposed to still be on a boat.

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

I thought she had died.

It's a day they'll never forget.

The day they had a close call.

Today on Close Calls, a fishing trawler in trouble in the North Sea.

It's taking on water at a rapid rate.

A passing vessel has gone to her aid.

A coastguard helicopter and a lifeboat stand by,

but there's no saving the trawler.

It's going to be a battle to save the crew.

Swimming as hard as we could, we couldn't get away from the boat.

It's a lot of tonnes of steel you can see coming towards you.

And an emergency operator receives an extraordinary call

about a young boy.

Also today, two brothers on a skiing trip when one disappears

straight down a crevasse.

It was like a nightmare, really.

I just thought, "This is going to be a pretty horrible way to die."

The North Sea, off the coast of the Shetland Islands.

A fishing trawler is sinking.

Its crew of five are still on board, along with two rescue workers.

Time is running out for all seven men.

A deck hand on another vessel films as the stricken boat

begins to slip beneath the waves.

The men must jump into the icy waters before the trawler

drags them down with it.

If anybody had got caught up in the rigging,

even with a life jacket on, it's a heavy boat, it's...

They're not going to be seen again.

The Shetlands are the most remote islands in the UK,

situated more than 100 miles north-east of the Scottish mainland.

The largest port, Lerwick, is home to the fishing fleet,

a mainstay of the island's economy.

Darren Harcus moved here from Orkney to be closer to his job.

For six years, the trawler Ocean Way has been his workplace.

Its joint skippers Steven Hughson

and his dad Leslie have become his close friends.

Both great guys to get on with. Happy to work with them.

Just very easy-going and makes everybody's life easy.

Darren works two weeks on the trawler then returns home

to his fiancee and six daughters for two weeks off.

Yeah, family life is good. I suppose absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I don't know what it is about the fishing.

You just get lured back every time.

I've tried several other jobs and always end up going back to fishing.

The lure of the sea is so strong that even when Darren

is on shore leave he volunteers as a crew member with the RNLI.

Joining the lifeboat team fulfilled a lifelong ambition.

Since I was a little boy, I remember them coming out to Westray Regatta.

Back then, they would take people out on the boat.

I remember thinking that was amazing as a kid.

Yeah, I just want to help other people at sea.

I think everybody does.

It's a Friday morning in March and Darren is at home

when his pager goes off.

He's stunned when he learns the name of the boat putting out

a mayday call.

One of the guys said that it's the Ocean Way, it's your boat.

So, yeah, all sorts of things going through my mind at that time.

On board are his lifelong friends, his second family,

but he's reassured when he's told the situation isn't critical,

although the boat is taking on water.

Just thought it would be run out there and meet them,

put a pump on board, pump it out, get them tied out safely, job done.

But it didn't happen like that, obviously.

When Darren and his RNLI crew mates arrive at the scene 20 miles

off the coast of Lerwick, the trawler is listing badly.

A Norwegian salmon boat, the Gerde Saele,

is already standing by to offer help.

A crew member films as a coastguard rescue helicopter circles above.

Darren and another RNLI volunteer, John Best,

are transferred to the Ocean Way with a powerful pump,

but water is pouring in so quickly it can't cope.

To start with, when we got the pump fired up,

the water was actually about us. It was maybe two foot high.

It was getting worse and worse.

We told them that we really do need to get people off.

The crew think part of the boat's fishing equipment called

the trawl door slammed into the hull when it was under water

and pierced the reinforced steel.

Knowing the Ocean Way is lost, the skipper shuts down the engines,

causing a puff of black smoke to erupt.

Darren calls the lifeboat back in, and the trawler's skipper,

Steven, gives the order to abandon ship.

Water is now coming over the top rail of the deck.

The bow of the Ocean Way is lifting out of the water.

The lifeboat comes alongside,

but it's too late to do a boat-to-boat transfer.

When the boat started going vertical, that's when me

and John Best gave the order to jump.

It'll be safer in the water away from the Ocean Way sinking,

because if anybody had got caught up in the rigging,

even with a life jacket on, it's a heavy boat, it's...

They're not going to be seen again.

Some of the crew are reluctant to jump,

but Darren knows they have no choice.

Just screaming at them to jump.

Full faith in the lifeboat being able to pick them up.

There's that much adrenaline pumping,

I wasn't really thinking, just doing.

There's a one-metre swirl

and the water is only six degrees as the men launch themselves into it.

Skipper Steven is the last man off.

I wasn't 100% sure if Steven was much of a swimmer or not,

so I made a bit of a beeline for him.

Footage shot from the RNLI boat and the Norwegian trawler shows

the men in the water swimming desperately to safety.

Darren and Steven are only feet away from the sinking vessel,

in danger of being dragged down with it.

Swimming as hard as we could, we couldn't get away from the boat.

It's a lot of tonnes of steel you can see coming towards you.

Darren's RNLI colleague shepherds the other crew members

towards the rescue boat.

The trawler's crew are hauled on board the lifeboat

one at a time with the help of a special harness.

There was... I don't know how to describe it. Slight disbelief.

Everybody was almost happy just because they're safe,

trying to make the best of a bad situation, I guess.

But there's no hope of salvage for the Ocean Way.

It vanishes beneath the waves. It's too much for the trawler's skipper.

Steven was pretty quiet on the way in. I mean, really quiet.

I was a bit worried that he was going into shock,

obviously having been in the cold water, just trying to keep

an eye on him, try and engage with him and make sure he's speaking.

Back on shore, the crew are given the all clear.

But everyone involved is aware how close they came to disaster.

Later that night, my fiancee did give me a big cuddle

and say she was extremely proud of me, which...

Maybe it was a big deal.

Coming up later...

..a skier plunges down a crevasse. His body cam records the fall.

He comes to a stop on a small ledge.

This is the view up and this is the view down.

Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland.

A worried dad makes a 999 call.

It's unlike any other the call taker has ever received.

The little boy's mother has just discovered her son

locked inside the machine.

When I opened the dryer, it was just like a wee rag doll.

It was just like living a nightmare.

Paramedics are briefed and rushed to the family's address.

Responded as quickly as we could.

We're hoping for the best but preparing for the worst on the way.

Gillian Duffy and her husband Aaron are teenage sweethearts.

Now married, they live with their family in the pretty seaside

town of Bangor in Northern Ireland.

I've got four children. My eldest is Sophie. She's 12.

The next one's Sasha. She's 11.

Then there's Freddy, who's seven, and Riley, who is five.

The two girls are close. Close in age.

Girls being girls, they'll fight a bit out over bits and pieces.

Freddy and Riley are very close, but as a whole family,

they all play with each other regardless.

The couple's youngest child, Riley, was born with Down's syndrome

and other related medical issues, including a heart problem.

Before he was even six months old, he needed open heart surgery.

It was a frightening time for the family.

The doctor told us then how severe Riley was.

He gave Riley 24 hours to live and said we need to put him

to operation and we need to get him stronger.

It was a long road, but we haven't looked back.

He's been great ever since.

Now five, Riley is full of mischief.

Riley, he's a face that melts your heart.

But he is into everything. Just have to, 24/7, just keep an eye on him.

But it's not easy.

Riley doesn't always understand why he has to stay

away from certain things in the house.

With Riley it's a lot more difficult because he's nonverbal.

He does have a few words that he uses, but it's mainly just signing.

You are having to repeat yourself with Riley,

so it is continuously, you know, "Don't do it, it's dangerous."

"No, no, no" all the time

with different things, dangers around the house.

But it's not just Mum, Dad and his siblings who keep a watchful

eye on Riley, so does Teddy, the family dog.

Teddy obviously realises that Riley has special needs

and there's something that bit special with Riley.

You can see Teddy looking out for him all the time,

always following Riley around, just keeping an eye on him as well.

In fact, Teddy has a track record

for looking out for the entire family.

One night, Teddy came in and she was acting all weird.

Then we started smelling a smoky smell.

It was our charger was just about to go on fire.

She had detected it from the other room.

When Teddy had done that, I thought Teddy was a hero,

to me, you know, cos she's alerted us to that.

It's a wet Sunday afternoon

and Gillian is upstairs doing the housework.

Husband Aaron is at his mum's nearby,

and the girls are at the cinema.

Freddy and Riley are downstairs.

The usual Sunday, getting everything ready for school the next day.

Freddy was glued to the TV, as normal,

and Riley was playing on his wee iPad.

I was just up and down the stairs, so they were happy as Larry.

But as Gillian gets to work with a vacuum in her daughter's

bedroom, the family pet appears.

Teddy came running in and was barking and running in and out

and in and out, frantic.

Instinctively, Gillian knows something is very wrong.

I stopped the hoover

and ran downstairs screaming to my other son, Freddy,

"Where's Riley? Where's Riley?"

We just went looking for him, and Freddy started shouting,

"There's an iPad in the tumble dryer.

I was like, "This can't be happening."

Frantic, Gillian rushes into the utility room to find

the dryer on and something tumbling around inside it.

Riley, with his love of dark, quiet spaces has climbed

inside the dryer, somehow shutting the door, restarting the cycle.

When I opened the dryer, it was just like a wee rag doll.

I just pulled him out and I just started throwing water over him

cos he was just roasting.

At the same time, she rings Aaron.

I got a phone call from Gillian to say,

"I need to take Riley to the hospital quick.

"I've just pulled him out of the tumble dryer."

I sort of thought, "Sorry?" You know, "What?"

I said, "I'll be there in 30 seconds."

Aaron races home to find Gillian throwing cold water over

Riley at the kitchen sink.

I could see the swelling around the forehead.

I just thought, "We need to get plenty of cold water onto this."

I then lifted him and ran him straight up the stairs.

Both me and him stripped and got him into the shower,

but I could see more burns,

I could see the bruising on his back, the burns on his back,

the burns on his arm.

All the while, Riley's still screaming.

Just me and him plunged into the cold water.

It was just frightening me

cos it just looked as if he had just been run over.

And he just looked terrible.

I thought, "We need to phone the ambulance here."

This is Aaron's call to the emergency services.

PHONE RINGS

Call handler Paul White can't quite believe what he's hearing.

People getting trapped in things happens often,

but not tumble dryers, I've never heard of anything like that before.

The injuries we'd be worried about would be any damage to the head or

any broken bones, anything from being thrown about in a tumble dryer,

and also any burns from the tumble dryer being on.

They had obviously suffered trauma from going round in it,

so it does change how things are treated and how he was treated.

Paul flags the family's call as a priority because of Riley's age.

Paramedic Ian Wooley arrives at the house in record time.

I've never received a call like that before,

but we responded as quickly as we could,

especially as it was a young child.

We were hoping for the best but preparing for the worst on the way.

But when Ian tries to check Riley over,

the little boy is too distressed to be examined.

He's not great, cos he's been in hospital so many times.

I lifted his top up to show the paramedic some of the bruising and some of the burns.

He knew it was quite severe and serious.

There was burns to the arms, upper back and just above one of the eyes.

But, honestly, my biggest concern would have been

the throwing about in the drum of the tumble dryer,

so I was more concerned about traumatic injuries,

after having a look at the burns.

Riley is unable to tell the paramedics

or Mum and Dad what hurts.

His parents are also concerned about his heart condition.

We just feel that, you know, can his heart, you know,

take something so traumatic? And you just don't know what's going on in his wee body.

Riley is rushed to Ulster Hospital with his dad at his side,

while Gillian arranges for the other children to be looked after.

A team of emergency doctors

and nurses are standing by to assess Riley's injuries.

I've worked in A&E for over 20 years,

and in all that time I've never heard of a call like this before.

His head was covered in a multitude of small bumps,

his whole scalp was covered, I'm sure there was 15 or 20 bumps.

His back was covered with abrasions and marks

over its entire surface.

He had burns around the waistband of his back and he had

burns to his left elbow as well.

The concerns when we see that amount of external injury are what lies underneath as well.

So, obviously, there is the potential for brain injury,

brain bleeding, or indeed chest injury.

A nurse distracts Riley with a teddy bear,

while doctors examine him.

By the time Gillian arrives, it's all looking more positive.

He's playing with one of the nurses, throwing a teddy back and forth.

So it was, like, huge relief. But even seeing him sitting there

covered in bruises, burns,

you're just...your heart just melts for him, like.

X-rays and scans reveal no internal injuries.

Mum and Dad's quick thinking prevented the burns

from being more serious.

Dad had taken him straight to the shower, which was a really clever thing for him to do,

because cooling burns down early is

paramount to stopping the ongoing burning process.

These machines are a closed box, you can suffocate inside them.

And if you don't do that you can tumble and turn

until you receive such severe injuries that they can kill you.

Riley remains in hospital for two days, and is then allowed back home.

He was straight down the hall and into his playroom.

Just all his own wee stuff, he was just... You could tell that he was just glad to be home.

Gillian now keeps the utility room locked,

but one member of the family gets the complete run of the rest of the house.

Teddy would have normally been outside,

but that particular day it was raining and,

you know, it's scenarios like that where if he had been outside

Riley wouldn't have survived.

A couple more minutes in the machine and he wouldn't be here today.

It doesn't bear thinking about.

That's a story that will make mums and dads everywhere

more than a bit concerned, but what a lovely family.

Now a tale about two brothers whose day out on the slopes

took a terrifying turn when one completely vanished.

Saas Fee in the Swiss Alps.

Two brothers from England are scouting for filming locations

on the ski slopes.

One is recording as they tackle

a challenging off-piste run on a glacier.

He thinks he's planned his route to avoid cracks in the ice.

But, suddenly, the snow gives way beneath him.

He plunges 60ft below the surface.

Jamie and Jack Mulmer grew up in the quiet village of Bearsted in Kent.

But it's the mountains of Switzerland they now mostly call home.

Started skiing when I was a kid, when my parents started taking us on family holidays.

And my parents had always skied as kids, so

they wanted to pass that on to us.

And they did.

So much so that the siblings have turned their passion into a business.

They've moved to the resort of Saas Fee in Switzerland,

and started a company making promotional videos for hotels and chalets.

It was 24-year-old Jack who came up with the idea,

but when it began to take off, he recruited older brother Jamie to help.

Having my brother as the person I work with makes life very easy,

there's never any arguments.

I am completely happy to admit that he is the boss of our company.

Um, most of the time I do what he says.

It's early December, the start of the winter season,

and the brothers are anxious to get out on the slopes to recce some new locations for filming.

They start out on the Feegletscher glacier,

skiing off-piste at three and a half thousand metres above sea level,

accompanied by friends.

Jamie is recording on his helmet camera,

as they gather at the top of an infamous run.

It's known as Make Or Break,

because if you don't make it

then you break it.

The brothers are experienced enough to know the dangers to look out for.

There are giant cracks on the ice alongside the run.

Before he sets off, the hazards are playing on Jamie's mind.

Younger brother Jack heads down the piste with two friends.

Jamie sets off a minute later. He can see a crevasse up ahead

and is confident he's chosen the right route to avoid it.

There's always a channel, slightly to the right of the middle of the face,

which everyone skis through.

That was what I was aiming for.

By now, brother Jack has reached the bottom of the run.

So we watched Jamie drop in, he was coming down the face.

He was going relatively quick.

But when Jamie skis over a ridge, he realises, to his horror,

the crevasse is much closer than he thought.

I started to see the dip of the crevasse,

um, and that's probably about where you hear me groaning.

HE GROANS

Because I realised that I need to get a lot further right.

He desperately tries to avoid the opening in the ice,

then suddenly the snow gives way beneath him

and he plunges straight into it.

And I kind of flipped over backwards,

quite a horrible feeling. I kept falling down and I started sort of tumbling,

I was sort of flipping down, sort of head over heels

and bouncing off of ledges.

You kind of hold your arms out and stuff, but it's completely in vain

because there's nothing to hold on to.

It was like a nightmare, really, I just thought, "Ah, this is going to be a pretty horrible way to die."

Eventually, Jamie stops falling,

landing on a ledge of snow.

The camera's red recording light reflects back into the lens.

Down in the ice, there's nothing but silence.

When I finally did come to a stop,

I think I was on my hands and knees.

At the bottom of the slope, Jack sees his brother vanish beneath the ice

and fears for his life.

There's always the chance that you can fall in one of those,

and then you don't come back out again.

It happens so quickly. There wasn't really any time to think.

60ft down, Jamie is recovering from the shock of the fall.

Took a second to look around me,

and gave myself, like, a pat down.

I sort of realised that I was OK.

The brothers both have radios, so he immediately calls Jack.

Having the radio was so good, because

when I was sort of speaking to Jack it was, uh... Yeah, it took my mind off things a bit.

Jamie clears the camera lens. His shot shows how far under the snow he is.

On the surface, Jack realises rescuing his brother isn't going to be easy.

They'll need help.

There wasn't really...

..any point in him trying to get out himself,

because it could have gone much worse, really,

so we just told him to stay put.

He hasn't much choice, but Jamie's worried the ledge he's on could give way.

To his right, the crevasse continues much deeper into the ice.

I could see down it, and it was just black down into that hole.

Then snow suddenly starts falling in on top of him.

I was quite worried about snow avalanching in and maybe burying me.

For another hour, an anxious Jamie stands balanced on the narrow snow ledge.

Then a rescue team reaches the crevasse.

There's helicopters flying around, there's paramedics all over the place.

For us, it was quite comforting knowing that there was lots of people around and stuff like that.

They throw a rope down to Jamie and he hooks himself on.

But ice ledges and overhangs are blocking his route to safety.

I kind of ended up swinging under an overhanging bit of ice.

If they had yanked me there they would have just, like, rammed me up into the top of this ice.

Jamie has to trust the team as they haul him up the ice walls,

and away from the void below.

It was quite intense, you were being pulled up

an almost vertical wall.

The camera captures one of his rescuers above.

Daylight and safety are now tantalisingly close.

There's no, like, "gently does it" when it comes to that,

it's just, like,

get you up, like.

Two minutes later, Jamie makes it to the surface.

His ordeal is over.

I was pretty happy to be, uh,

to be coming out over the top.

Of course a feeling of relief when he popped out of there.

As Jamie emerges, a relieved Jack is there to greet him.

Yeah, there wasn't really, like, tears and crying and stuff,

you know, it was just, like...

.."Well done for surviving that, that was lucky.

"You're an idiot."

That's all from Close Calls today,

we'll see you next time.