A care worker has been hailed a “hero” after saving a disabled man from a potentially deadly gas leak in his Holloway flat.
On January 26, a car drove into Roy Lancaster’s ground floor property in Whitby Court, jamming the entrance and causing a gas leak.
Just in time, his carer Sam Albert Weir jumped over the fence, smashed through the back door and dragged the 66-year-old to safety.
Roy, who has multiple sclerosis and is bedbound, told this paper: “He put his own life at risk to save mine.
“It was truly a heroic act, you could say he’s my hero.
“I liked him before, but now I like him a whole lot more. He’s the nicest man I know.”
The 64-year-old carer has worked with Roy for around three years, and visits six days a week.
Having been diagnosed with the degenerative disease 22 years ago, Roy now relies on a stream of carers to help him function day-to-day.
Usually arriving punctually at 8am, Sam believes running late that morning saved his life.
The father-of-two said: “If I had got there on time, the car would have gone into me as I was walking into Roy’s flat.
“When I got there, I tried to get into the front door but I couldn’t get it open.
“I was screaming for Roy, and could smell gas. I realised a pipe had burst and was panicking.
“When I got in, Roy asked me what was going on but I said ‘I need to get you to safety first, then I’ll explain.”
“I couldn’t let him burn,” he added. “He’s a nice guy, I like him a lot.”
Roy said: “I thought a bomb had gone off, I was terrified.
“I was getting really hot and could smell the gas, I thought I was going to suffocate.”
Once outside, Roy said he was checked over by ambulance crews and taken to hospital, where he remained for several weeks as his flat had been badly damaged.
Since the accident he has been staying in sheltered accommodation in Highgate.
The London Fire Brigade confirmed firefighters were called at 8.20am that morning, and together with the Metropolitan Police proceeded to evacuate around 40 people from the building.
A Brigade spokesperson added: “The gas authority worked to isolate the supply.”
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