A cut above the rest: Brave barber rescues woman from floods (From Your Local Guardian)

A cut above the rest: Brave barber rescues woman from floods

5:46pm Wednesday 25th July 2007 in News By Jamie Stewart

A Wallington barber was a cut above the rest as he waded in to rescue a frightened pensioner who was trapped in a waterlogged car.

The 88-year-old woman was lifted from the driving seat during a dramatic underwater rescue carried out by three electricians and a 19-year-old hairdresser.

At about 11am, torrential rains swamped the pensioner's car which was parked in Woodcote Road, close to Wallington railway bridge.

Within seconds, flood water began gathering underneath the bridge and vehicles started to struggle to get through.

Brave Evan Mohamed, who works at a barber shop opposite the scene, quickly realised the hair-raising drama was about the get worse.

"Very soon, the car was almost submerged," Evan said.

“We heard a commotion, came running out and saw this guy in his shorts. He was swimming alongside the car as it bobbed along in the water. Myself and David jumped in and forced open the back door, while Evan went through. I held the door with my leg and Evan dragged the driver out.”

Evan Mohamed

"Only a few inches of the roof were visible, and the lady inside had her head raised towards the ceiling, trying to breathe."

Evan stripped down to his boxer shorts, diving headlong into the raging waters. He clambered on to the roof of the car and desperately tried to break through the sunroof, but to no avail.

Things quickly went from bad to worse as the waters continued to rise. Within minutes the car was lifted by the sheer weight of the water and swept 20 metres downhill.

It was at this point that John Lord, 36, David Turco, 32, and James Miles, 23, joined in the rescue bid.

Mr Lord said: "We heard a commotion, came running out and saw this guy in his shorts. He was swimming alongside the car as it bobbed along in the water. Myself and David jumped in and forced open the back door, while Evan went through. I held the door with my leg and Evan dragged the driver out."

The rescue took its toll on Evan, who later needed hospital treatment.

"I was crushed against the wall of the bridge by the car. I can't stand for more than a couple of hours," he said.

Evan refused to let the incident go to his head and was back at work the next day, ready for another close shave.

• For more on the floods </>click here.