- 7/7/2025
Close Calls On Camera S10E08 (20th April 2022)
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00A close call. A moment of danger when life can hang in the balance.
00:05It was absolute panic and fear.
00:08A split second where the outcome could go either way.
00:11They'd have been lucky if they'd have stayed conscious.
00:13The difference between disaster and survival.
00:16It's literally, that's all it takes.
00:19Hey, what's happening?
00:20These are the people who've been there and lived to tell the tale.
00:24I was terrified. I thought I was going to die.
00:27It's a day they'll never forget.
00:29The day they had a close call.
00:47Today on Close Calls.
00:49A professional mountain biker approaches a ramp for his last trick of the day.
00:54A 20 foot high front flip.
00:56It felt super in control and I started to spot the landing as I was coming round.
01:00But he's miscalculated. He's too high.
01:04Yes.
01:05Oh!
01:06This is the result.
01:11And a small leisure boat with two men on board is rammed by something below the waterline.
01:17This felt like an almighty bang.
01:22It's like as if a juggernaut or a trawler had rammed the back of the boat.
01:26It's neither.
01:27It's a minke whale joining seabirds, dolphins and sharks in a feeding frenzy.
01:33The impact catapults the boat's owner into the water.
01:36I went four or five feet up in the air, flying out over the side.
01:40I was frightened that he might be attacked by whatever was in the water.
01:43Shefford, Bedfordshire.
01:55A professional mountain biker performs tricks in friendly competition with a fellow rider.
02:01His girlfriend films from the sidelines.
02:03Yeah!
02:06They were well within both of their limits and the last trick of the day was the front flip.
02:14He's got it easy.
02:16He sets off on his final run.
02:19It looked perfect.
02:20But it isn't.
02:22Yes!
02:23Oh my God!
02:25Specialist mountain biker Tom lives in Essex with his girlfriend Cara.
02:37He's been bike obsessed since he was a boy.
02:41My dad was into motorcycles and then the closest thing that we could relate to as kids was just getting on our mountain bikes.
02:48And then once you've done it for a while and you just get that sort of bug for it, it becomes addictive and then you want to just keep doing it and progressing.
02:56And it's just where I'm happiest.
02:57So, yeah, I love it.
03:00And he used his passion to build a career in the sport, representing the UK in competitions around the world.
03:10Gymnastics on a bicycle, basically, is the type of riding we do.
03:14So, back flips, front flips, spins, all sorts of different tricks.
03:19It's still quite a funny thought now that me just riding my bike attracts that many people will watch it and be amazed by it.
03:26But, yeah, I always sort of had my eyes on the prize to make it a career and luckily it's turned out all right for me.
03:32He's now a 28 and after several years at the top, Tom has stepped back from the physical pressures of competition and taken his career in another direction.
03:40He's created his own online video channel to showcase his skills and inspire the next generation of riders.
03:48It's been really, really good fun. I've thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope that you guys have enjoyed spending the afternoon with us.
03:55It's taken off with more than 100,000 regular viewers.
03:58My videos cover almost everything in mountain biking and we do tutorials, we do maintenance videos.
04:04You could argue that it's not really a real job because you're just riding your bike.
04:07So, I love it so much. I'm happy to work seven days a week, 24 hours. I wouldn't really have it any other way.
04:13But one afternoon on a routine filming day, a trick goes horribly wrong, threatening Tom's livelihood and his life.
04:22It's a sunny Saturday morning at the end of July.
04:29Tom and his girlfriend Cara, a former nurse and also a keen biker, load their kit into his van and head off to a bike park in nearby Bedfordshire.
04:39The plan for that day was to go, film the video, have a bit of a ride. It was just a fun day out plan really.
04:47I was looking forward to seeing our friends, but we were really, really tired because the night before we'd just driven back from Wales.
04:54I think I actually fell asleep in the car on the way to the bike park.
04:59They arrive around midday and start filming straight away.
05:03Today is an exciting day because we have made it to Chicksands Bike Park, the sun is shining and we're just going to have fun. I'm really excited.
05:10It was a weekend so it was busy. There was a lot of people that when we arrived come and was talking to us about the videos.
05:15So that always sets quite a nice mood.
05:17We started riding, we started filming the video.
05:20Oh! Yeah!
05:23Tom and Cara spend the first few hours cycling together, filming each other on the woodland trails.
05:32Conditions at the bike park that day were actually perfect. We've had quite a lot of rain this summer, but with it being sand, that does sort of dampen it and make everything run really fast.
05:43Good riding.
05:43That was nice.
05:44Nice. So the day was going really nicely, but that soon changed.
05:50At around three o'clock they meet up with Cam, a semi-professional rider and an old friend of Tom's.
05:56He's younger than me and he's been sort of coming up through the ranks behind me all this time and I'd say now he's even overtaken me.
06:04I always used to look up to him, but when we do riding together and we'd like thrive off each other.
06:10The two pals plan to showcase some tricks on the challenging dirt jumps, a row of steep eight foot high ramps made from hard packed sand.
06:18That is predominantly where Tom and Cam are best at riding.
06:24Even so, the pair don full safety equipment before they start.
06:28I never ride without a helmet. I always wear doing freestyle stuff, knee pads, shin pads and ankle braces.
06:34Cara takes on filming duties as Tom and Cam take on the jumps.
06:38Dropping in, straight away with a backflip.
06:44Yeah!
06:45They've both done contests on these jumps, so they were well within both of their limits.
06:52Oh, yeah!
06:54The jumps we were riding are what I like to call a fun size.
06:58Not too big, but big enough to do tricks on.
07:01To up the excitement level on the video, Tom and Cam challenge each other to perform ever more complex tricks.
07:09Cam's pushing me today really hard and...
07:11He's not used to it.
07:12I'm not used to it.
07:13A bit slack recently. It's good to kick him up the bum now and again.
07:17The afternoon was going really well.
07:19We were setting each other tricks.
07:20He was pushing himself. I was pushing myself.
07:24And then as soon as the nerves are flushed out, you become loose and you can just move the bike exactly where you want it.
07:31Tom goes for a big trick to finish.
07:33A 720. A double spin turning 720 degrees in the air.
07:40Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:41Yeah! Woo!
07:43He actually landed the 720 perfect.
07:46With confidence high, they decide to do one last run and round off the video with an even harder and more spectacular trick.
07:54The front flip.
07:56I'm going to do a frontie on this jump here behind us.
07:59And then, that is going to stoke Tom enough to do one himself.
08:04I wanted to do the front flip because it's just that whole thing of pushing yourself.
08:08It is a scary trick because it's such an opposite rotation sort of thing.
08:14That's what makes it hard.
08:16Cam goes first.
08:19Here he comes for the front flip.
08:21I was filming Cam as he came down the dirt jump line.
08:25He'd already done it that day.
08:26I hadn't seen it, but I knew that he would do it perfect.
08:31Oh! Woo!
08:33He does.
08:34And then it's Tom's turn to set off on his run.
08:38Yeah.
08:39It was all cheering him on.
08:41Yeah.
08:41I've seen him do them before and it looked perfect.
08:44But this time, it isn't.
08:47Yeah.
08:48Oh, my God.
08:53Travelling at around 25 miles an hour, Tom approaches the final ramp and takes off.
09:00It felt really good.
09:02The front flip, done what they call snapped really well.
09:05He throws his body forward to start the spin, soaring more than 20 feet into the air.
09:12It felt super in control and I started to spot the landing as I was coming round.
09:16But on the sidelines, Cam knows he's got it wrong.
09:20I remember looking at him.
09:21He was all, like, tucked up at the peak still.
09:24And he was going way too quick.
09:27Tom straightens out over the landing ramp, but he's too high.
09:31All of a sudden, my wheels don't touch the ground at that point.
09:33And I just remember that split second saying to myself, oh, no, I'm going too far forward.
09:39He lands hard on his front wheel and is thrown forward over the handlebars.
09:44There was nothing I could do.
09:46It happened so quick and it was like, it's going wrong.
09:48Bang.
09:50The left-hand side of his head and body take the full impact.
09:54It's just like running into a wall from that height with that momentum.
10:04Oh, my God.
10:05My stomach instantly dropped.
10:08Cara and Cam rush towards him.
10:10We knew straight away that the stomach was up.
10:14I started, I, like, lost control of my body and started shaking.
10:18Cara shuts off her camera as she arrives at Tom's side.
10:22He was having a fit and that's the thing that scared me the most because he's never had a fit or hit his head so badly for something like that to happen to him.
10:31He was making some noises, moving about, looking really uncomfortable.
10:36And I just sort of kept shouting his name and I was trying to get him to come out of the fit.
10:41When he does, Tom's in severe pain.
10:45Cara's a former intensive care nurse and fears he may have significant injuries.
10:49We laid him in the recovery position just because I didn't want to move him too much because I wasn't sure what was happening internally.
10:55Cara asks a bystander to call 999 and an ambulance is dispatched, but it's going to take up to 40 minutes to reach their remote location.
11:06It's an agonising wait.
11:08From my experience, I know that things can take a massive turn in such a short amount of time.
11:18Later, paramedics arrive and treat Tom at the scene, then rush him to hospital, where the news is bleak.
11:25The consultant was like, if it started bleeding, it's emergency surgery instantly because your life is at risk.
11:38Four miles off Clonacilty Harbour, County Cork, a huge shoal of mackerel has attracted birds, dolphins and minky whales.
11:48Two men on a small fishing boat stopped to film the feeding frenzy.
11:51It was fabulous because you don't see this kind of group of whales up close only maybe once in a lifetime, you know.
11:59It was incredulous. It was incredible.
12:01But filming this natural phenomenon brings them closer to nature than they intended.
12:10This felt like the end of the world.
12:12Taxi driver Chris lives in the coastal town of Clonacilty and has always made the most of living so close to the sea.
12:28I've always had boats since I was maybe 15 was the first time I had a boat and I've had a charter boat, taking people angling for years.
12:37My father had a boat. He had a boat right up till he died. I was out with him as well. So it's in my blood, you know.
12:43But when the tourist trade dropped off following several years of bad weather, Chris took the tough decision to sell his boat and concentrate on taxi driving full time.
12:53When you're taxiing all the time, it's kind of you're on the go and you're at people's beck and call.
12:58I was too busy and then I realised like that life is too short. You have to do what you want and what you can while you can, you know.
13:04So he bought a small 20-foot leisure boat to get back on the water in his spare time.
13:10He regularly invites friends on board for the day. One of them is David, who he met inland river fishing more than 20 years ago.
13:17Chris would describe me as somebody who wouldn't put up with the sea too well, who would be a fair weather angler and who likes the calm days at sea.
13:28But he's become an ideal crewmate on fishing trips.
13:32My responsibilities are to make sure I catch as many fish as possible and to behave myself and obey the skipper's orders on board.
13:39And he feels safe with Captain Chris at the helm.
13:43I have GPS, radios, I've always life check, it's all serviced every year, flares, everything you need really I have.
13:50I have every eventuality, fire extinguishers, because I was on a boat one time that caught fire and stuff as well.
13:55So 99% of the time, there's no danger once you have your safety equipment.
13:59So far, they haven't needed to use it.
14:02There's never been any close scares. Having said that, when you're out four or five miles out at sea, nobody knows what's happening with nature, with currents.
14:10Everything is possibly changing out there. And therefore, you must always probably expect the unexpected.
14:16And that's what hits them on one of their regular fishing trips.
14:20But it's an encounter they never even thought to prepare for.
14:23It's late summer, and Chris and David are heading out for an afternoon sea fishing.
14:32David films the scene on his phone.
14:34Conditions were fabulous. It was a lovely sunny day. The sea was flat like a lake.
14:39I'd go down first, do a bit of work, get the boat up, they're ready, everything fuelled, everything like that, make sure everything is where it should be.
14:46They set off from the harbour in good spirits.
14:48The plan was to catch some fish, bring it home for supper that night, and we said we'd try and catch some mackerel firstly for bait.
14:56They're hoping for an extra bonus today too.
15:00It's whale watching season, and they're eager to catch a glimpse of the magnificent mammals as they sail.
15:06It's very exciting. I haven't seen creatures as big, the biggest creatures in the world, up close before, so the opportunity is there.
15:11Some days you could see up to 20 whales in the bay and hundreds and hundreds of dolphins, you know.
15:16But you don't actually know from day to day. The same with the fishing, you go out, you don't ever expect what you're going to catch.
15:23They stop about four miles off the coast and drop their lines in the water.
15:27But catching the smaller fish they need for bait proves difficult.
15:31We'd been out probably in maybe an hour and a half, so we'd just got a little bit of bait, but we were looking for mackerel. It had been scarce.
15:37Chris scans the horizon and spots an area in the distance, which looks more promising.
15:44Chris, with his very keen eagle eye, saw this lot of bird activity about maybe a mile away.
15:49Seabirds are always a good indication of mackerel feeding and stuff like that, so we decided to go out to them.
15:55He's right. They motor across and find a large shoal of mackerel.
15:59The fish have attracted predators.
16:02It started with the seagulls feeding on top of the water, and then suddenly it was a huge event.
16:08Dolphins came from everywhere around, and the tuna swimming on top of the water as well.
16:13Bluefin tuna, huge. They're ten feet long.
16:16Spellbound, they filmed the scene with their phones.
16:19Then they spot the unmistakable blow of a whale.
16:22I'd estimate probably eight to ten minke whales were feeding on the other side of this gathering of small fish,
16:29maybe four or five hundred yards away, so we stopped the boat because we always pay them respect.
16:34You stay away from them and stuff like that.
16:36They're witnessing a rare natural event called a bait ball.
16:40The dolphins and whales and everything, they circle this school of fish,
16:44and when they get so tight, the fish in the centre of the bait ball,
16:48they actually choke because they have no oxygen in the water,
16:51and they float up to the top, and then the whales are feeding off the top of them,
16:55but they work like a peck, the whole lot of them, to encircle them, you know, so it's brilliant to see.
17:00It was incredulous. It was incredible.
17:03Chris lets the boat drift with the engine just taking over.
17:07We just stopped still and left them do their business.
17:10We were at a distance maybe about 200 yards away.
17:12It was fabulous because you don't see this kind of group of whales up close only maybe once in a lifetime, you know.
17:18The two men are captivated by the spectacle.
17:23But then...
17:24The boat is struck by something beneath the surface.
17:32It's a minke whale about to join the feeding frenzy.
17:35The large mammal, more than 20 feet long and weighing around five tons, rams the fibreglass hull.
17:44One end of the small craft is sent four feet clear out of the water.
17:49All of a sudden, bang.
17:53David is flung across the deck.
17:55This felt like the end of the world.
17:58This felt like an almighty bang, like as if a juggernaut or a trawler had rammed the back of the boat.
18:07The ferocity whereby the boat was just shunted forward.
18:11The air was just so dramatic and frightening.
18:14I was pelted across and fortunately, I suppose I just fell on the flat part of the deck.
18:21But he's no idea what's hit them.
18:23I was terrified and it was totally confusing because there was nothing to be seen.
18:28And so when I gathered myself up off the deck, I looked around and I couldn't see anything.
18:33But nor could I see Chris.
18:35Chris was standing on the starboard side when the whale struck.
18:40But not anymore.
18:41I went four or five feet up in the air, flying out over the side.
18:44And I had a fishing rod in a rod holder.
18:46And one of the hooks got caught on the life jacket strap.
18:49And I ended up in the water.
18:51David's phone, which flew from his hand during the impact, is still recording as he searches for his friend.
18:58I was underwater when I opened my eyes.
19:01And I could see the sun and the water above me.
19:04He needs to reach the surface.
19:06And the life jacket inflated and I was up.
19:09And I was probably maybe four or five metres away from the boat.
19:12David spots him in the water.
19:14I was so relieved to see Chris swimming and alive.
19:18That was my first reaction.
19:20But he's still in danger.
19:22He's only yards away from the feeding frenzy, now attracting more and more predators.
19:28I was frightened that he might be attacked by whatever was in the water.
19:32Moments earlier, we had a discussion around what types of sharks were out there.
19:36And Chris still has his fishing rod and hooks tangled up on the back of his life jacket.
19:41On those hooks would have been bait.
19:42So the potential was there for other creatures to come up and take the bait on the hooks.
19:47And with that, pull Chris away into the depths.
19:51Chris has concerns of his own.
19:53If the boat is drifting away from me, I won't be able to make it back to the boat.
19:57He swims frantically towards it.
19:59Jesus, I don't think I ever swam that fast anyway, you know.
20:02It was a case of get out and get back into the boat.
20:05David hauls him back on board.
20:07But the pair know they could still be in trouble.
20:09The boat might have been in danger of going down, you know.
20:12If it happens slowly, we get time to send out an SOS.
20:16But we're still looking at, at the very minimum, an hour in the water.
20:19By the time the life portal get lodged and get out to you.
20:23The fiberglass hull of the boat took a huge impact.
20:27Chris searches for signs of damage.
20:29I lifted the engine cover and just checked all along inside the cabin as well,
20:34along where it hit.
20:35To his relief, the hull is intact.
20:38We decided to get out of there anyway.
20:40There was no point tempting fate.
20:42We got out of there like a bat out of hell.
20:44We were just full steam ahead.
20:47I think we had a kind of a nervous laughter as we headed back.
20:50We were just saying, God, aren't we lucky?
20:51Aren't we? We're still here.
20:53As they approach land, they slow down,
20:56and David takes this photo of a still-drenched Chris.
20:59His phone's on the bottom of the seabed.
21:01So they watched the recording on David's.
21:05Little did I realise I was videoing at the time that impact on the boat.
21:08They're stunned by what he captured.
21:14When we slowed it up, we could see this dark creature,
21:18and then we could see it was actually a whale.
21:20In 35 years on in a boat,
21:22I've never seen or heard of an incident like this.
21:25It was totally and utterly out of the blue.
21:27The footage probably doesn't really do justice.
21:29The experience was far worse
21:31because what's a very stable fishing boating platform
21:34is suddenly thrown around the place like a toy.
21:38Chris believes they survived the impact
21:40because they were struck as an angle.
21:42The whale hit us a glancing blow.
21:44If he had hit us square on on the side,
21:46he could easily have punctured the boat
21:48and cracked it in half, you know.
21:50Relieved, they head into the harbour.
21:53We were delighted to be back in safe,
21:55and we met some of the local trawler men,
21:57and we were telling them our story.
21:59They're used to seeing all sorts of wildlife out there,
22:02but they'd never come across a leisure boat
22:05that had been struck by a whale before.
22:08The story sounds such a tall tale,
22:11they're glad to have the proof on David's phone.
22:13The chances of that were a million to one
22:16that he actually caught the whale hit.
22:17Nobody would have believed us.
22:19They'd have said we were lying.
22:20Only for that, you know.
22:21The freak incident hasn't put Chris and David
22:25off fishing at sea.
22:26Minky whales aren't known for being aggressive
22:29and normally keep their distance from boats.
22:32I think there was an accidental collision and a one-off,
22:34and it wasn't going to happen again.
22:36But to be on the safe side,
22:38Chris and David keep their distance.
22:40We've definitely learned a little bit more
22:42to give them a little wider berth, you know.
22:44We go out with a very healthy respect
22:46for the oceans and the sea out there.
22:48What's the famous film line?
22:59I think they're going to need a bigger boat.
23:02Good to know, though, that Chris got back safely on board
23:05during that amazing natural phenomenon.
23:08Now back to a remote biking trail
23:10where an injured rider is being comforted by friends
23:13whilst they wait for medical assistance to reach them
23:15after a trick went disastrously wrong.
23:25In Shefford, Bedfordshire,
23:27professional mountain biker Tom has crash-landed from height
23:30while performing tricks for his video channel.
23:33Yes!
23:35Oh, my God!
23:37He's badly injured and needs immediate medical attention.
23:40I was in a lot of pain instantly down my side.
23:44I'd hit the ground really hard
23:45and I knew I was possibly in some danger.
23:49His girlfriend Cara and riding buddy Cam saw it happen.
23:53It's really horrible to see someone that you care about
23:58in that much pain.
23:59He was making some noises, moving about,
24:02looking really uncomfortable.
24:03Cara, a former intensive care nurse,
24:07is worried he's sustained a serious internal injury.
24:11Emergency services are on the way to their remote location,
24:15but it will take at least 40 minutes to get there.
24:19While they wait, Cara keeps Tom talking
24:21and Cam covers him in their coats to keep him warm.
24:25He kept feeling sick.
24:28Inside, I was really panicked,
24:30but then on the outside,
24:31I knew that I had to sort of be a bit...
24:33take a bit more control.
24:34I knew that I had people that I had a lot of faith and trust in
24:37to sort of take care of me the best they could.
24:41Cara films as the ambulance arrives
24:43and paramedics assess Tom.
24:46They checked his blood pressure,
24:49his oxygen levels, temperature, heart rate.
24:52Everything was fine.
24:55There's nothing more the paramedics can do
24:57at the scene.
24:58Tom needs to be in hospital.
25:00He's helped into the ambulance.
25:02That was really, really, really horrible.
25:05Quite scary, isn't it?
25:05Yeah, really scary.
25:07And to see him end up going off in an ambulance
25:09is not the best.
25:10I was kind of hoping that nothing had happened
25:14that was too serious
25:15and that I could go and pick him up and bring him home.
25:18But that's not what happens.
25:20Tom's condition is more serious than anyone realises.
25:24At Bedford Hospital,
25:25a CT scan reveals he suffered a ruptured spleen,
25:28which has bled internally.
25:30Although it's no longer bleeding,
25:31there's blood in the pelvic region
25:33and the area is unstable.
25:36They acted at 100 mile an hour
25:38and was told this is really serious.
25:40And if it starts bleeding or gets worse,
25:43then you're going to need an operation.
25:45And that comes with lifelong complications
25:46having your spleen removed
25:48because it's a big part of your immune system.
25:50Any movement could cause further damage.
25:53Tom is put under close observation
25:55and told he needs to remain in hospital
25:57for the next few days
25:58to give his body a chance to heal.
26:01If it started bleeding,
26:03it's emergency surgery instantly
26:04because your life is at risk.
26:05So that was probably the first time
26:08I've ever been quite scared
26:09about your sort of life.
26:11When a consultant tells you that,
26:13looks you in the eye and tells you that,
26:14it's quite a scary moment.
26:17Later that night,
26:18Cara is allowed to visit.
26:20When I got there and saw him laying down,
26:22it was quite a bit of a shock.
26:23He looked really poorly.
26:25He was really pale.
26:27She was quite panicked,
26:28but I think just as both being together
26:30made both of us sort of relaxed
26:32and put our minds at ease.
26:35Tom's condition slowly improves
26:37and after five days in hospital,
26:39doctors are happy he's well enough
26:41to continue his recovery at home
26:43with some notable restrictions.
26:47I can't ride for three months,
26:50which again, I'm happy with
26:52because it's been a big hit
26:53and you've got to let yourself recover properly.
26:55There's nothing worse
26:56than coming back too early
26:57because you'll be back to stage one
26:59before you know it.
27:04A few months later,
27:06Tom's recovery is going well.
27:08He plans to get back on his bike,
27:10but will proceed with caution.
27:12This crash has made me sort of think
27:14about where I'm at in my career
27:16and what's necessary
27:18because maybe what I was doing
27:19wasn't necessary in that moment.
27:22Andy's already broadcast a safety message
27:24to his fans and young riders.
27:26This side, it's compressed right in
27:28from where my head hit the floor.
27:30I can't stress to you
27:31from my point of view
27:33how important it is
27:34to always protect your head.
27:38He wants them to understand
27:40how lucky he was to survive.
27:42Yes!
27:43Oh my God!
27:45It's quite scary to see back actually,
27:47to watch it back.
27:48There's a weird part of me
27:48that would love to do it again
27:49to land it,
27:50but I don't think I need
27:52to go back and do that.
27:54It was a close call.
27:55It was on the edge
27:57of being life-threatening.
27:58So yeah, I think close call
27:59is a very fitting term.
28:09Those professional riders
28:11pull off some dramatic tricks,
28:13but I think Tom is grounded
28:14for a while.
28:15See you next time on Close Calls.
28:19Close Calls.
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