102-year-old man rescued after spending three days trapped on roof

Devon centenarian Ron Easton saved after neighbour noticed milk piling up outside his house

A 102-year-old man spent three days on the roof of his house before being rescued after he fell over and became trapped.

The man, named locally as Ron Easton, climbed onto the roof of an extension on his home in Bigbury-on-Sea, Devon, but got stuck after collapsing, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue said.

His neighbour, Trish Bagley called 999 to raise the alarm after noticing three unopened milk bottles outside Mr Easton’s property.

South Western Ambulance Service said paramedics had found the centenarian lying face down on the roof, next to a bucket of tools.

“He appears to have climbed on to his house extension on a ladder,“ a spokesman for Devon and Somerset fire and rescue said.

“We sent three appliances and an aerial ladder platform to the scene.

“The space to work in was far too narrow for our aerial platform, so firefighters used a stretcher from an ambulance to climb up onto the roof and rescue him.

“It was reported to us that he had been up there for around three days.”

Mr Easton, a former racing driver known as “Ton-Up Ron”, was airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, where he remains in a stable condition.

“The man was actually lying in a gulley between his house and garage,” said Nigel Toms, the first paramedic on the scene. “So he was in a bit of a pickle.

“But I reached him fairly easily, and got a response. Then we worked together to extricate him from the roof. It was a good team effort.

“His life was definitely at risk. So he’s a very fortunate man.”

Ms Bagley told the BBC she initially thought her neighbour was simply asleep when he did not answer his door.

“I had no idea he was there, I just knew something was wrong,” she said.

“He always takes his milk in every day so alarm bells rang – Monday and Tuesday’s milk was there so he was probably there from Sunday.

“The ladder was on the wrong side of the house so no one could see it. He must have slipped or something, we just don’t know.

“He’s a strong man. He’s always out in the garden. Hopefully he will make a full recovery.”

Additional reporting by PA