War veteran stranded overnight

Adrian Roberts · Nov 28, 2008

This appeared in the Daily Telegraph. This veteran is clearly determined to stay independent. Quite an ordeal for anyone to stay out on an English winter's night, especially an 86 year-old!

An 86-year-old war veteran was left stranded in his mobility scooter for 16 hours after getting it stuck in a patch of mud.

Robert Calloway, a former rear gunner and retired engineer, was marooned in his scooter overnight as temperatures plummeted to nearly freezing.
He was only discovered when a dog walker spotted him the following morning.
Mr Calloway had been to church and was on his way home when he decided to take a short cut through the local park and ended up getting his scooter stuck.
Having forgotten to take his mobile phone out, he was unable to call anyone for help and so was not discovered until 9am the following day, when he heard a dog barking and called out for help.
He was taken to hospital with an infection he developed during a sleepless night as temperatures dropped to just 37F (3C), but he is now recovering at home.
His daughter Jan Critchley, a parish clerk, said: "He has incredible strength. He was off the beaten track; it was amazing that anybody saw him.
"He could have been stuck there for even longer and I hate to think what could have happened then."
Mr Calloway's family has appealed for his mystery rescuer to come forward so they can thank him for saving the pensioner.
Mr Calloway said: "I was going across a bridge when I turned left and got stuck fast in the mud.
"It got very cold and it was quite a frightening experience. I won't go there again in the dark."
His granddaughter, Ally Critchley, 26, a data analyst, said: "He has told us he wanted to see daylight so much and kept praying for help. It is a miracle he didn't get frostbite.
"Luckily he heard a dog barking and guessed it must have been a dog walker. He started calling for help and a man found him."
She said her grandfather had been reluctant to talk about his experience on Sunday night in detail.
She said he had been to his local church in Crawley, West Sussex on Sunday and was making his way home when he became stuck by a lake.
"Knowing him he probably didn't stick to the normal paths and ignored the limits of his mobility scooter.
"Because it was getting dark and there were no walkers, no-one passed him until the next morning. He was very unfortunate. He has a mobile phone but he never takes it with him."
Miss Critchley added: "It seems he tried to get off the scooter but he is a bit unstable on his feet and his shoes got stuck in the mud.
"When we saw his clothes his trousers were muddy from the knee downwards and were soaking wet."
Miss Critchley said: "My mum had a call from the hospital saying he had been found and that he was ok.
"He was wearing a vest, a long sleeved shirt, a blazer for church, and a jacket on top of that. The layers he had, even though they were not waterproof, were enough to keep him conscious."
She added: "We really want to thank the person who found him and took him to safety. My grandfather is a very lucky man."
Mr Calloway, a former engineer, has also survived a Second World War bomb blast, a gas leak and a garage explosion.
He uses a mobility scooter with a top speed of 8mph because he has trouble walking and has undergone a hip replacement.
Click to expand...

Antipodean Andy · Nov 29, 2008

Certainly a survivor and, having been a rear gunner, probably not the coldest he's been! Glad he came through it okay.

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