Good Samaritan rescues man left clinging to roof

Yet even as he clung onto the roof traffic drove by as he called for help with only one good Samaritan stopping to help, which he believes saved him from a broken leg or worse.

Stoneyford man Neil Gardner, from Classic Cleaning, was on a sloping roof as he cleaned windows near the Down Royal Racecourse when the drama began last Thursday.

He was left clinging onto the roof from 16 feet in the air for around half an hour.

Neil said: “It was only about 15 to 16 feet high, but I would have broken my leg at least if I had fallen. I am very grateful to the person who stopped for me. I was calling for help but there was nobody around and the homes were all empty because it was the middle of the day.

“I tried to wave down traffic but only one lorry stopped and then drove on saying they couldn’t help me; who would do that to another human being?

“It was horrible anticipating how to jump down, wondering if I could reach nearby bushes to break my fall.”

Neil added: “The person who helped me showed up in a builder’s lorry and he found the ladders that had blown off the side of the house, which allowed me to get down. All I really want is to thank the guy who saved me and say thanks very much, I very much appreciate it.”

Neil, who has been cleaning windows for 18 years, says this is the first time that anything like this has ever happened. The incident also meant that he was late to collect his four-year-old and one-year-old children from Nursery.

Despite his ordeal, he says that it won’t put him off in the future.

“This has never happened to me before, besides, I’ve got to pay the mortgage” he said.