Blind man used phone app to rescue dad from car after it fell down 10 foot verge

Martin Ralfe had been travelling home with his dad when rain caused their car to slip on the road. He says what3words saved them

Martin with Samantha and Leo (Collect/PA Real Life) (PA)

A man who is registered blind and rescued his father from their car after it plummeted down a 10-foot verge into a body of water, dragging him to safety, has urged others to download the location app that helped emergency services reach them and save their lives.

Martin Ralfe, 30, an applications and technology programmer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue, had been travelling home with his dad, John, 58, late one evening in December 2023 when rain caused their car to slip on the road.

Falling off the edge of the road, the pair fell 10 feet into a body of water, and Martin rescued his dad from the sunroof before using the what3words app to help emergency services pinpoint their exact location using a unique three-word combination.

The app enabled a police car to find them within 15 minutes after Martin had dragged his dad up the verge before losing energy.

Martin, who lives in St Helens, Merseyside, with his wife, Samantha, 32, a charity home visitor, and their son, Leo, two, and also has a seven-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, told PA Real Life: “I don’t know what we would have done without what3words, there were no notable landmarks, it was dark outside and I’m blind – it saved our lives.

“Working for emergency services, I always knew it was a useful tool, but this experience validated that. If one good thing could come from this, it’s to raise awareness about what3words, as it could potentially save someone else’s life.”

The dad-of-two has said he is now focused on spreading the word about the what3words app (Collect/PA Real Life) ( )

It was December 2023 when Martin was travelling home with his dad, John, late one evening when they encountered bad weather while on the road.

Martin said: “It was raining and the road was a bit slippy. Fortunately, we’d left my guide dog at home to keep my mum’s dog company so luckily he wasn’t in the car with us.

“We were only travelling at around 15mph, it was a casual drive, no rush. I noticed the car wobble a bit, but there wasn’t much to it. Then the car just slipped and felt like we were shooting to the left side of the road. My dad managed to control it and we stopped.

“There was no problem and we were just about to have the ‘phew’ moment when again, the car just slipped and we fell off the edge of the road. We tumbled two or three times down a verge until we came to a rest with the car in the air and myself in the passenger seat with the window shattered and in water.”

The pair had plunged 10 feet down a slope and were trapped in a body of water that was three feet deep. With the car on its side, Martin was in the water while his dad, who was driving, was above him.

John suffered no injuries and it was a dead nerve that had stopped him from using his leg directly after the crash (Collect/PA Real Life) ( )

Martin added: “My dad shouted to me, ‘are you okay?’ and I was like, ‘I think so’. There was a bit of back and forth but he was a bit groggy with his answers so I was concerned.”

Martin managed to open the sunroof of the car and, releasing his dad from his seatbelt, the 30-year-old was able to guide him out of the car through the roof.

Grabbing his phone, Martin called emergency services and tried to explain his location to the operator.

He said: “I was trying to figure out where I was and I asked my dad, ‘do you have a clue where we are?’ but he didn’t, then I remembered I had what3words on my phone.”

The location app, which is used by 85% of the UK’s emergency services, gives a unique combination of three words to every three-metre square in the world, making it easy for emergency services to pinpoint an exact location.

Martin had downloaded the app by chance a few months prior as he was testing it for work but never imagined he would need it in his own emergency situation.

Giving the call handler his three-word code, they informed Martin that a patrol car was 15 minutes away, however, Martin was faced with the fact that it would be difficult for rescuers to reach them at the bottom of the verge so, leaving John by the bank, he began to search for a way out, clambering through brambles and a barbed wire fence.

Martin and John's car after it fell from the road (Collect/PA Real Life) ( )

Reaching the roadside, Martin turned back to return for his dad who could not move his leg and began towing him by the collar of his coat.

Martin said: “About three feet from the road, I started to lose energy and the adrenaline was starting to wear off. I rested my dad up against a tree and I could see blue lights in the distance.”

Martin remembers meeting police officers and sitting in the passenger seat of a police car before falling unconscious.

He awoke in hospital in a head block wearing an oxygen mask. Scans gave him the all-clear from any serious head injuries and he was discharged at 7am the following morning with a severe concussion, torn shoulder muscle and torn ligaments in his ankle.

His dad, John, suffered no injuries and it was a dead nerve that had stopped him from using his leg directly after the crash.

Now, Martin is still receiving physio for his shoulder and is “emotionally wary” when it comes to cars and speeding.

The dad-of-two has said he is now focused on spreading the word about the what3words app.

He said: “Truly, I don’t know what would have happened without what3words because we didn’t know where we were, we didn’t have a clue.

“It meant that we were able to give emergency responders the exact location of where we were so I wasn’t losing energy or losing time trying to find out our location and I could focus on getting us out of the situation we were in.

“I’m on a bit of a crusade to make sure anyone I speak to is aware of the app and has it downloaded because there’s no reason not to have it.”