By Faye Mayern
A hero who pulled an elderly man out of a car sinking into the sea has told of the heart-stopping moment he waded into the waters to save him.
Lee Rainforth, 52, was driving along the seafront in Southend, Essex, when he noticed a vehicle in the water and a crowd gathered on the beach.
Rainforth, a former firefighter, pulled over and realized a man was trapped inside the vehicle at 1.30 p.m., Jan. 5.
He stripped down, waded into the freezing sea and smashed the driver’s side window with a rock to open the car door.
The East of England Ambulance Service said an adult man was assessed but did not require transportation to hospital.
Rainforth, an electroplater, said: “I was driving along and I said to my girlfriend: ‘That’s a bloody car floating in the sea there’.
“As I got closer, I saw there was someone in the car and loads of people standing around.
“I pulled over, stripped off and ran in – my girlfriend said ‘What are you doing?’ and I said ‘I need to get him out’.”
Rainforth, who was a firefighter for 15 years, said when he got to the car, it was floating and the electric windows would not open.
He explained: “I got a rock and managed to crack the window. Water rushed in.
“It was coming up to the man’s chest and neck. I thought if he doesn’t get out, he’s going to go under.
“I leaned over and managed to get his seatbelt off.
“I opened the door and I said ‘What are you doing out here?’ – trying to make a bit of a joke.
“He told me he was sorry. I just hope he’s alright.”
Rainforth managed to get the man to the shore with the help of another bystander who also entered the water.
A HM Coastguard Southend spokesman confirmed they responded to reports of a car that had entered the water.
The spokesman said: “We would like to say a huge thanks to the members of the public who entered the water, at risk to themselves, to help extract the casualty from the vehicle in what was a very dynamic incident which was evolving quickly before emergency first responders could reach the scene.
“Whilst we would never encourage members of the public to put themselves at risk, when they do and there is a successful outcome, it shows the community spirit we have in our city when someone goes to help someone in need.
“As the persons involved had already left the scene we were not able to speak and thank them directly.”
The car was later removed from the water by Essex Police and the Coastguard.
An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called just before 1.40pm on Sunday, Jan. 5 with reports that a vehicle had driven into the sea on the Western Esplanade in Southend.
“An ambulance, ambulance response vehicle and a mental health response vehicle were sent to the scene.
“The driver of the car, an adult man, was assessed and did not require transportation to hospital.”
