East Lancashire couple thank man who saved their lives in sailing accident

Non-swimmer Norma Probert was trapped beneath the submerged catarmaran Sanyassa, off Greece, only surviving thanks to an air pocket in the main cabin.

Her husband, retired GP Dr Clive Probert, managed to clamber aboard the hull after being flung across the cockpit, Now their rescuer is to get a top bravery award at Buckingham Palace.

Within minutes Ruairi Bradley, who runs a nearby yacht club and restaurant, in Vliho harbour, on the Greek island of Lefkas, had plunged into the water.

With air rapidly running out Ruairi managed to guide the grandmother to the surface, as she clung onto his oilskins.

One man lost his life in the storm, which saw several craft overturn, and the Proberts, who were circumnavigating the globe, have paid tribute to the rescuer’s alertness.

Restaurateur Ruairi is to receive a bronze medal from the Royal Humane Society for his actions. The award was personally approved by the Society’s president, Princess Alexandra.

Burnley-born Norma, said: “I was very frightened. I thought I was going to die. However, the water reached my chest and then stopped rising.

“I didn’t know whether Clive was alive or dead. I screamed and shouted for help and then I heard Clive on the outside of the hull call my name.

“I thought at last that I might have a chance of survival though I knew the air I was breathing was limited.”

Ruairi, 39, made a number of exploratory dives, trying to determine Norma’s whereabouts in pitch-black conditions, having to negotiate a maze of tangled lines and debris and not being familiar with the boat’s layout.

Eventually he was able to make out her outline, standing on the ceiling of the saloon cabin.

Even as he as emerged into the air pocket, he could tell there was little air left.

He said: “She said she couldn’t swim and couldn’t even hold her breath, and it was going to take between 15 and 18 seconds to get out.

“So we did a couple of practices, just ducking her head underneath the water, and it became apparent she really did have difficulties.”

He encouraged her to trust him and, barring a brief moment when Norma became trapped behind safety rails, the pair made it to the surface.

“When she popped up she was fairly limp so I just went over and gave her a bear hug and she sprang to life,” added Ruairi, who is originally from Rostrevor, near Newry.

Norma, of Whalley New Road, Blackburn, said: “I don’t really remember what happened. I think I let go of him. I think I let go of some breath.

“But somehow we swam out together. I banged and crashed into objects in the water but then we were on the surface and I was being held.”

One French tourist lost his life in the storm, which saw several craft overturned in the harbour’s freak conditions, with winds topping 100 knots.

Norma suffered a cracked pelvis and the couple’s boat was an insurance write-off but they remain grateful for Ruairi’s heroics.

Dr Probert, who began work at Blackburn’s Redlam surgery in 1963 and was also at Bentham Road health centre, said: “It was less than one minute between being in our saloon having our sundowners and us capsizing.”

The Proberts had been travelling the world aboard their catamaran for the last 14 years and had racked up 52,000 miles at sea.

Dr Probert, now in his mid-70s, is a former international class helmsman who sailed alongside sons Simon, Chris and Colin, and brother David, in European and world championships.

Before his retirement he also served as a part-time medical advisor at Crown Paints in Darwen. He only took up the sport aged 38.

The couple returned to Burnley after their ordeal to stay with family but are now back exploring the world.

Ruairi was originally supposed to be presented with his medal next month but he was unable to attend the planned ceremony and is now set to be honoured in October.

He said: “It was a very, very unusual situation, something the likes of which local people had not really seen in living memory.”