Pooch helped her find air pocket
A MUM whose fiance drowned when they crashed into a water-filled ditch survived thanks to their dog guiding her to a tiny pocket of air.
Maria Kemp blacked out when Roger Van Kerro lost control of the car, which ended up upside down and submerged in the chest-deep drainage channel.
The mum-of-two came round underwater and managed to unfasten her seatbelt after a struggle in the darkness.
Maria patted her hands up the body of pet dog Archie and found his head in the air pocket. She said:
“I felt Archie thrashing around. He moved closer so I grabbed him and followed to where his head was.
“The air pocket was so small I had to tip my head back so I could breathe. I wouldn’t have found the air pocket without him. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be dead.”
She screamed for help while trying to release Roger from the driver’s seat. But he was dead when emergency services freed them 10 minutes later.
Maria, 49, said: “When I came up into the air pocket I could hear Roger shouting ‘Babe’. I shouted ‘I’ve found an air pocket, if you have air stay where you are’, but he never replied.”
She said she tried pulling 17st Roger up but he was already unconscious.
The inquest was told the couple were travelling to visit a friend in July last year.
Roger, 41, was driving on a B road near Whittlesey, Cambs, when the Renault
Clio clipped a concrete fire hydrant. The collision sent the car spinning across the road and into the steep ditch. It was daytime but the water was very murky.
A motorcyclist saw the accident and called 999. Firefighters, paramedics and the air ambulance attended.
They wedged a door open and dragged Maria and Roger from the car. Paramedics tried in vain to revive him.
Maria, who believes the air pocket was in a footwell, said their eight-yearold Staffie was “trembling” as they watched the medics trying to save Roger.
Police suspected she had been driving and arrested her. But 10 days later they confirmed Roger had been behind the wheel.
Maria, of Sawtry, Cambs, received an apology. The inquest in Huntingdon heard there was no evidence of speeding, phone use or a hazard in the road.
Roger, who had prescription drugs in his system, was not over the drink-drive limit. Coroner David Hemming said: “The verdict should be one of road traffic collision, because it involves a vehicle leaving the road and ending up in a water-filled ditch, and Roger losing his life as a result.”
Roger and Maria, who had been together 17 years, were due to marry in March. Speaking after the inquest, gran Maria said: “My heart was broken and it still is... He was a lovable rogue.
“We miss him so much. He has been gone six months but Archie still runs upstairs expecting him to be there.”
MARIA KEMP ON THE AGONY OF LOSING HER FIANCE ROGER
We miss him so much. The dog still runs upstairs expecting him to be there