I thought my time was up, says copter crash hero Mr Courage
A HEROIC skier who saved the lives of two young British brothers when their helicopter crashed during an avalanche has admitted: ‘I thought my time was up.’
Brewery heir Edward Courage, 68, threw them out before the battered aircraft was swept down a mountainside in the Swiss Alps.
His quick thinking saved Guy
Hutchings, 23, and his brother Teddy, 18, but the disaster on Tuesday killed pilot Jerome Lovey, skier James Goff and experienced guide Adam George.
Mr Courage fell 1,600ft down the Petit Combin mountain near Verbier before plunging another 100ft into a crevasse. He was saved after contacting rescuers using an SOS app on his phone.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail from his hospital bed, Mr Courage – who has a broken left arm and wrist, a shattered collarbone and seven broken ribs – said: ‘ We were about to land when all hell broke loose.
‘All of a sudden there was a lot of snow, and these very big chunks were hitting the windscreen, and there was this tremendous noise.
‘Then there was the sensation of toppling down and I could see one of the blades slicing past the front of the helicopter at about 500mph. I realised then that our chances of survival were pretty remote. In the confusion, I think I just sort of fumbled into Guy as I leapt out and grabbed hold of Teddy and they both sort of fell out with me.’
He added: ‘I fell down the cliff face on my backside and I thought my time was up.’
Mr Courage then dropped into an 18in wide crevasse – which may have saved his life as a huge mass of snow, rock and ice swept over him. He was able to activate the
‘Chances of survival were remote’
EchoSOS app on his phone and speak to rescuers.
He said it took four hours for them to reach him and send down a harness from a helicopter.
‘I’ll never forget the click of that harness being clipped on to me and the man telling me “You’re safe now”. It was the best moment,’ he said.
Guy and Teddy had been swept more than 3,000ft down the mountain but somehow survived with relatively minor injuries.
Guy remains in hospital and, although he requires no operations, he is ‘severely beatenup and bed-bound’. His younger brother was released yesterday on crutches.