Dad Who Can't Swim Saves 11-Month-Old Son from Sinking Car During Flood: 'Really Scary'

Mar. 15, 2025

Flooding from Storm Bert in the U.K.Photo:Alex Lentati/LNP/Shutterstock

Alex Lentati/LNP/Shutterstock

A British dad is being hailed as a hero after his family said he recently managed to save his 11-month-old son from a flooding car during a heavy storm.

On Saturday, Nov. 23, Paige Newsome wrote onFacebookthat her partner, Andre Randles, had pulled their son Luca to safety as Storm Bert brought heavy rain and strong winds to the U.K. over the weekend.

“I cannot thank those owners enough for taking Andre and Luca into their home and helping them,” she wrote.

Flooding from Storm Bert in York.Andrew McCaren/LNP/Shutterstock

Andrew McCaren/LNP/Shutterstock

“As soon as I saw danger, saw the water coming into the car and we were no longer floating and starting to sink, something switched in me,” Randles said.

He added that the car quickly became “almost completely submerged in water,” telling the outlet, “I thought I needed to get out and get Luca out.”

“I thought I’m going to have to get out, I’m going to have to smash a window,” Randles recalled toSky News.

“The water was chest high, I held him up as high as I could to keep him out of the water,” he said, per the outlet, insisting, “It wasn’t raining so heavily, I’ve driven in much worse rain.”

Ioannis Alexopoulos/LNP/Shutterstock

Calling the whole thing “really scary,” Newsome told Sky News: “To think I could have actually lost them both — I don’t know how I would’ve lived.”

She echoed that to the BBC: “It could’ve been a completely different outcome. We could not be sitting here with both of them, so I’m very grateful to Andre.”

“I’m very proud of him and of how fast-thinking he was,” Newsome said.

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On Sunday, the U.K.’s Meteorological Office warnedon X(formerly known as Twitter) that heavy rain from the storm had led “to flooding issues across parts” of the country, urging people to “be aware that river levels will continue to rise, even after the rain has passed;”

The Met Office added on itswebsite, “There have been large rainfall accumulations with some places having seen in excess 130 mm (about 5.1 inches) in the last 24 hours and wind gust of over 75 miles per hour in some exposed areas.”

source: people.com