Heroic Wolverhampton firefighter recalls moment he saved five-year-old boy dangling from tower block – and now he's set to star in TV show
"Any one of us would have done it, I was just at the end of the ladder" are the words of heroic firefighter Lyndon Flavell who saved a five-year-old boy from falling out of a fifth floor tower block window.
Now, the fire fighter is to feature in a new programme revealing the perils of the job, though not including this miraculous rescue.
The 42-year-old father-of-one from Penn, Wolverhampton, braved the 50 ft drop from Glendale Tower, Beechmount Drive in Erdington to save the boy on the Thursday before Christmas.
The crew from Erdington station were sent to the scene and were shocked at what they saw.
Initially, the crew saw members of the public crowding round what they thought was something on the ground.
Crew commander Flavell said: "When we first got the call to attend the scene, we thought it could be a hoax. But then as more and more people called in, we realised this was actually happening.
"We got to the scene in just over two minutes.
"When we arrived, we saw some kind of mass on the ground and people crowding around.
"For one horrible moment, we thought we were too late."
But when the crew looked up, they could see the boy's legs dangling out of a window, five storeys above the ground.
"I didn't think about it, I just went up."
The only thing between him and the ground was the "boney bit" behind his ears that was stuck in the window frame.
Crew commander Flavell was helping to pitch the 13.5m ladder for the second time when he found himself at the foot of the ladder.
He said: "Our first pitch wasn't quite right, and we needed the ladder to go higher and closer against the wall to reach the boy.
"I can't say I intended to go up the ladder, it just so happened that I was at the foot of the ladder when it was pitched.
"I didn't think about it, I just went up."
Commander Flavell reached the top of the ladder and realised it wasn't quite tall enough to reach the screaming boy.
"I got to the top of the ladder and realised I wasn't quite high enough. So I balanced on the last rung.
"Any one of us would have done it, I was just at the end of the ladder."
Members of the public helped the crew to hold the bottom of the ladder while the drama unfolded.
One member of the public who had helped secure the ladder required oxygen therapy afterwards due to the trauma of watching what happened.
The events also shocked commander Flavell's wife, Claire, who feels 'very proud' of her husband's actions.
Claire, aged 38, who is a college lecturer, said: "Our emergency services work so very hard and it's not always recognised, but this really brought it home.
"I know Lyndon is very humble and doesn't like the spotlight, but when I heard what he had done, I felt so proud of him.
"I immediately thought of what I would have done in that situation, as we have a six-year-old daughter, and it would have been so upsetting.
"The poor parents must have been beside themselves and I'm just so proud of what the crew did to rescue the little boy."
Commander Flavell said: "When I got to the bottom of the ladder, one of the women who had shown us where the boy was and had helped with the ladder started showing signs of shock, so we treated her with oxygen until she calmed down.
"I think over the years, as a fire fighter, you get used to the adrenaline kicking in. It's only later when you think about your day do you realise what has been a particularly challenging job."
The crew are now to feature in a special TV programme called 'In the Fire' which is due to air on January 8 2018 on channel REALLY.
Commander Flavell added: "Looking back at the programme shows us how unusual our job can be at times.
"On some occasions during filming our head cameras stopped working because of the heat and smoke, but you still get a really good sense of the type of work fire fighters do each day.
"We have a really hard working team here and they just get on with the job without thinking about themselves. They run into the fire and danger when others go in the opposite direction, and hopefully this programme will show that."
For more information on the show which features members of West Midlands Fire Service, visit www.really.uktv.co.uk/shows/into-the-fire.
