The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Back at the scene: Alex Carvalho (left) and Egidijus Radvila rescued a 35-year-old woman from a car which ditched in the River Welland.
These are the two men who helped save a Spalding driver from drowning in the River Welland.
Egidijus Radvila and Alex Carvalho had never met before they agreed to talk to the Voice about last Tuesday night’s drama.
As we reported last week, a Vauxhall Corsa being driven along Haverfield Road failed to stop at its junction with London Road and ditched into the chilly Welland.
Egidijus (27) and Alex (31) stumbled across the scene from separate directions.
Egidijus was being driven by his friend Vidmantas Zujis.
He said: “We saw ten to 15 people on the riverbank and then a car in the river. At that point we didn’t realise someone was in it.”
The men spotted that the car’s windscreen wipers were going and it was then that Egidijus decided the sole occupant must still be inside.
In the time that Vidmantas had returned to the car to lock it, Egidijus had removed his jacket and shoes and was in the dirty water.
He said: “Someone on the other bank was throwing a lifebelt attached to rope towards the car but it wasn’t having any effect.
“I swam to the passenger window and told the driver to open it.
“She was clearly in shock and nearly crying.
“The water was almost up to the window and I knew not to try and open the door because it would flood the car further.
“I told her to come to me and I pulled her out through the window.
“She came into my arms and I swam back to the bank, pushing her in front of me.”
Vidmantas (27) helped them out and paramedics were quickly on the scene.
He said: “A few minutes later the car went totally under water.”
The submerged car the following day.
Egidijus didn’t know at the time but when he’d reached the stricken car, Alex was at the driver’s side, also trying to help.
Father-of-two Alex, of Queens Road, Spalding, had just finished a shift as a pizza delivery driver and made the same journey along Haverfield Road that the 35-year-old woman had made just moments earlier.
“I stopped and asked if the driver was out of the car and someone that she was still trapped inside,” he said.
“I went down the bank and swam to the car. I was trying to help with the lifebelt when I saw Egidijus appear at the other side of the car.
“It was good to see him get her out and to safety.
“She was given a blanket and somebody handed me a towel – the water was absolutely freezing.
“I spoke to her on the bank and she thanked me.”
Egidijus, a father of one, went home to Clay Lake to get changed and returned to the scene. The rescued driver, who was in the back of an ambulance, was then able to thank him too.
Reflecting on his actions, Egidijus said: “It’s a good feeling. I decided to go in because I didn’t know how long it might be before the emergency services would arrive and rescue her.”
Why the car shot over the junction remains unclear.
Spalding police confirmed that the driver provided a negative breath test at the scene and their enquiries are now complete.
