Hero walker rescues Leeds youngsters and mum from flooding

A hero dog walker rescued a mother and her two young sons who had become trapped in rushing flood waters.
The hero dog walker and the two boys.The hero dog walker and the two boys.
The hero dog walker and the two boys.

Julie Smith was walking along the canal near Hunslet with Keiran, 11 and Ethan, seven when water came flooding over the banking on Tuesday morning.

They jumped for cover on to a grass banking but got stuck and could not get out of the water.

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The 37-year-old said: “We could not move whatsoever. Every time we tried we just slipped over.”

Luckily a man walking his dog was coming in the opposite direction and realised what was happening.

He fastened his dog up away from the water and led Ethan to safety but Keiran got into difficulty and fell over in the water.

The dog walker pulled the youngster towards him then lifted him out of the water and onto the safety of the banking before guiding Julie to safety too.

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The family, of Hemingway Garth, Hunslet, only know the mystery man’s name was Callum but wanted to thank him for coming to their aid.

Mrs Smith said: “He grabbed my smallest son’s hand and helped him over but my other son couldn’t move. Callum told him he had to move because the water was rising. He slipped but Callum grabbed him just in time. He put him on the ground on the other side and came back for me.“We were all scared but just so glad he was there at the time. I don’t know what we would have done, it just happened so fast. We were walking to town to meet my daughter but were all soaking wet.“It was crossing my mind all day afterwards what had happened.”

The Environment Agency had issued flood alerts for sections of the River Aire from Monday after bad weather over the weekend, and in particular, for Wyke Beck, Meanwood Beck and Wortley Beck where water levels were “continuing to rise”.

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