A woman was saved after she was left clinging to the wheels of her car which had overturned and submerged in the water at the side of Loch Ness.

 

A local resident, managed to get a lifebelt to her to bring her ashore, but he modestly insists she really saved herself.

Jeff Dymond, 56, an environmental consultant has lived above the A82 Forth William to Inverness road for 28 years and says he is well used to hearing cars crash near his home north of Invermoriston. But this was different.

"We often get accidents here. We are just after a straight piece of road and if there is a lot of water about, cars coming fast can aquaplane. Between 7.30 to 7.45 on Sunday evening we heard the noise of a vehicle hitting rock, then silence. So I went outside but couldn't see any lights. Vehicles weren't stopping, they were still driving by. So my wife and I immediately realised it was something serious."

He said the bank down to the loch is quite steep at that point, and the burn had been in spate. So his wife phoned the emergency services while he went to investigate.

"I went down and saw the car was on its roof and completely submerged apart from its wheels. The girl was clinging to one of the wheels and shouting for help."

He said it was dark but he had a head torch. The bank was flooded up to his waist level and was full of brambles. The mouth of the burn had effectively become part of the loch. "So I realised it wasn't an option to get her out at that side. "

He went back to his house to get an old lifebelt from his boat. "I went back down but realised the rope I had with it wasn't long enough. As it happened there amongst the debris from her car, was an old strop used for the likes of tying loads to lorries. So I tied that on and managed to get the life ring to her. I climbed down the parapet of the bridge and managed to pull her in. Just about when she got into the bank, the emergency services arrived." The rescue had taken about 10 to 15 minutes.

He thought she would have been in her 20s and was badly cut and scratched, although he didn't think there any bones were broken. He didn't manage to speak to her after he rescued her, but praised the way she had acted.

"It was quite a bad smash and she went about 15ft down the bank and into the water. She really saved herself managing to get out of the car and holding on to one of the wheels, rather than trying to get into the bank."

He said the water had been even higher in the burn on Saturday. "So if she had landed where she landed, a day earlier there might have been a different outcome."

He said he hadn't heard any more about her.