Family escape death in freezing water

A London family were enjoying an adventure holiday in Iceland last month when things went very wrong. Anne and Ben Harding and their two children, Claire, 13, and Sam, 11, nearly drowned in freezing water.

The accident happened while the Harding family were exploring a glacier in a popular Icelandic beauty spot. Anne and the children were walking along the edge of the ice when suddenly Sam fell in the water.

As Anne and Claire were trying to help Sam, they too fell through the ice into the freezing water. Sam swam to the edge and managed to get out of the water but then he dived back to help his mother and sister. His father Ben heard their screams and ran towards the edge of the glacier. 'My wife and children were struggling in the icy water and then my wife Anne just sank below the surface. It was terrible.'

Ben managed to pull his children from the water, but when he went to rescue his wife, another disaster happ-ened. 'As I was trying to jump across the hole in the ice, I slipped and fell in too.' Fortunately when he was in the water, he managed to catch the back of Anne's anorak and pulled her head out of the water. 'Her face was blue. It was really frightening.'

Some paramedics arrived a few minutes later and a helicopter took Anne to a hospital in Reykjavik. She spent three days there before the family returned to England. And what are their plans for their next holiday? 'A seaside resort on the south coast of England,' says Anne with a grin 'It's not quite so cold there!'