Hero cop almost died rescuing stranded motorists as storms battered Scotland

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A hero police officer almost died rescuing 10 motorists stranded in raging storms that swept Scotland.

PC Sally Nicol also saved the life of her colleague – and narrowly escaped with her own – after being caught in a series of avalanche-like mudslides on a country road during Storm Babet.

Airlifted to safety, Sally, 44, continued her shift, helping get 20 other people stuck in their cars on another road to safety after a river burst its banks.

She said: “It was only when I was in the helicopter and looking down on the landslides and mud that it dawned on me how bad it was and the imminent danger we’d been in.

“I thought I was a goner and I genuinely thought I was going to die.

“It’s when you get home and take your uniform off that you are sitting there thinking, ‘Wow – how did I survive that?’

“I ended up breaking down and crying my eyes out and going, ‘That was some shift’.”

Sally is one of 29 officers from across Scotland who will be recognised this week for lifesaving acts of bravery and service to the public at a Scottish Police Federation ceremony in Edinburgh.

Sally, who is based at Dumbarton police office, was sent with colleague Robert Mackie as Babet raged last October to check the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll for abandoned vehicles and stranded passengers.

The road had been closed due to a landslide and traffic redirected to the nearby Old Military Road but Sally and Robert discovered that route had also been hit by a massive landslide that had trapped a car.

They managed to rescue a mum and her daughter before their silver hatchback was swept away.

However, a further series of mudslides blocked the Old Military Road and separated the two officers.

They didn’t know if other vehicles were trapped behind the various floods and landslips.

Sally said: “It was too dangerous to go back and I had to keep going forward.

“I got a tow rope, tied it to a barrier and tried to shimmy on to a path below so I could see better.

“I lost my footing and fell forward, flailing in the mud trying to get out.

“I was submerged in the mud and it was really difficult to get out. But survival mode kicked in and I managed to free myself, get to my feet and back up the embankment.”

Sally discovered a further five stranded vehicles with eight passengers, including a lorry driver and a farmer.

She lined the motors up next to each other as far away from any possible landslides and told the occupants to stay inside.

Sally said: “I thought, ‘We are stranded here and are all going to get submerged’. We could hear and see the various
landslides coming down the hills, which were literally moving.

“A landslide could have have happened there and then and wiped us all out. I was trying to remain upbeat while trying to arrange our evacuation and to stop people panicking and to keep calm.”

Sally managed to save Robert after spotting a landslide heading his way.

The PC, who has 19 years’ service, said: “I shouted for him to get out the way and then the whole lot came down. He managed to get himself and his car to safety just in time.”

A helicopter from Prestwick Coastguard 70 miles away eventually rescued Sally and the eight passengers and took them to nearby Inveraray Castle.

Despite her brush with death, Sally went straight back on duty. She was then sent to the nearby A85, which had been flooded after a river burst its banks. There, she rescued the
occupants of 10 cars, including an American family, and took them to the nearby village of Dalmally.

It was only when sitting at home near Glasgow that Saturday night that the full impact of what she had been through sunk in.

Yet she was back on duty the next day at 7am, by which time the storm had abated.

Sally said: “Nothing could compare to the day before. Everything I have done before and since pales into insignificance.”

Her boss Sergeant Brian Simpson, who nominated her for an individual bravery award, praised her courage in the face of extreme danger.

He said: “Each time she heard that noise, she wondered if this would be the one that washed them all away. Without her calmness and professionalism, this incident could have turned out so much worse.”

The awards ceremony will be held at Dynamic Earth on Wednesday, attended by Justice Secretary Angela Constance and Chief Constable Jo Farrell.

Scottish Police Federation chair David Threadgold said: “The situations dealt with by police can sometimes be extremely dangerous, and none of us should ever take what they do for granted.

“Our annual awards are a moment to recognise those who go above and beyond to keep the public safe with dignity and resolve, before coming back to work to do it all again.”

Babet was estimated to be the most expensive storm in Scotland’s history, causing £500,000 of damage.

Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded and more than 30,000 homes lost power.

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