Saturday, April 17, 2021

Good Person/Hero of the Week Blind man, 82, helped rescue family from burning yacht

 This week's good person/hero is about 2 people who saved three people from a Yacht in a harbor in Wales, before it exploded!  The article from BBC News (below) spotlights the blind man who helped, but didn't mention his friend's name, who was piloting the boat that made the rescue.  Regardless, both of them are Good Person of the Week. Here's the story from BBC News (I edited paragraph 1 and 2 for clarity about person #2):  


(Photo: the yacht the blew up in the harbor. Credit: BBC News) 

82-Year old Blind man and Friend helped rescue family from burning yacht 

BBC NEWS, April 12, 2021

An 82-year-old blind army veteran and friend helped rescue a family from their burning yacht just before it exploded.

John Nicol, from Llandudno was on a boat piloted by his friend when they saw the smoke and fire. They navigated over to the boat and pulled a mother and her son onto their vessel and hoped the skipper would be able to put the blaze out.  But the flames were already too fierce and they were forced to also help the skipper, who escaped just before the yacht blew up. The drama happened in Conwy harbour, Wales on Saturday 3 April.

(Photo: Mr. Nicol. Credit: https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/) 

Mr Nicol and his friend had spotted the burning yacht in the distance as they sailed to Puffin Island. 'Luckily, no-one hurt' After rescuing the mother and son they had initially handed the skipper their fire extinguisher to douse the flames.

"I have sailed for 50 years and was a coastguard for 18," said Mr Nicol. "Luckily, I know all the procedures, so I was able to give the coastguard all the information they needed. It all happened so quickly. It was awful what happened, and I feel dreadfully sorry for the family, but luckily no one was hurt."

Mr Nicol, who served in the Army with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, lost his sight because of anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy and glaucoma.

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I'm a simple guy who enjoys the simple things in life, especially our dogs. I volunteer for dog rescues, enjoy exercising, blogging, politics, helping friends and neighbors, participating in ghost investigations, coffee, weather, superheroes, comic books, mystery novels, traveling, 70s and 80s music, classic country music,writing books on ghosts and spirits, cooking simply and keeping in shape. You'll find tidbits of all of these things on this blog and more. EMAIL me at Rgutro@gmail.com - Rob

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