Drone footage has captured the moment a 75-year-old was found in a marsh following a desperate overnight search and rescue operation.
Some 50 people took part in a huge search to find Peter Pugh after he was reported missing when he vanished during an evening walk with friends in Norfolk.
Police have now released footage of the moment a drone spotted Mr Pugh in the 420-acre Titchwell Marsh, suffering hypothermia after being submerged in water and mud for 20 hours.
Drone footage captured the moment Peter Pugh was found in a marsh following a search and rescue operation
The drone operator was able to guide a team from HM Coastguard and Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service to him
Peter Pugh wife with Felicity in 2013. She was ‘quite sure he had been washed out to sea’
Mr Pugh had been walking with friends and family around 5.10pm on June 16 when he became separated from them.
Norfolk police, assisted by HM Coastguard, RNLI Hunstanton and RNLI Wells Lifeboat and Norfolk Lowland and Search Service, began searches of the local area throughout the night and into June 17.
Around 2.30pm the next day, the Norfolk Police drone piloted by Sergeant Danny Leach, spotted Mr Pugh stuck in dense reed beds and marshland.
Sgt Leach was then able to guide a team from HM Coastguard and Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service to him.
The team pulled him from a deep muddy creek before providing first aid until the Coastguard rescue helicopter arrived to winch him out.
He was then taken by air ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn where he is being treated for hypothermia.
Speaking from his hospital bed today, Mr Pugh said he could not recall his ordeal. He thanked his rescuers and said: ‘I am so fortunate to have been found.’
Police released footage of the moment a drone spotted Mr Pugh in the 420-acre Titchwell Marsh, suffering hypothermia
The team pulled him from a deep muddy creek before providing first aid until the Coastguard rescue helicopter arrived to winch him out
Without the drone, Mr Pugh may not have been rescued in time
Mr Pugh’s wife added: ‘He is doing remarkably well. He is sleeping quite a bit. His knees and legs were slashed by the reeds and now look like raw meat, but he is a tough old bird and is recovering well.
‘We had been out to eat and were heading back home when Peter decided to go off on his own for about half an hour so he could go and look at the seals.
‘But he ended up walking into an area where he should not have gone and fell into some water and mud amongst the reeds. I think he was lying down in the end and up to his neck in the water – but he was fighting all the time to try and get out.
‘He didn’t have a mobile phone on him and even if he did it would have got wet so it would not have worked.
‘The Coastguard helicopter searched for him on Saturday night, but did not find any sign of him. But he had a bright pink polo shirt on him and that is what caught the eye of the drone operator. Then the helicopter came back on Sunday afternoon to winch him out.
‘All he can really remember is the voices of the people who came to rescue him.
‘I just want to reiterate how wonderful the rescue services and the police all were. I think the drone saved his life.’
Mr Pugh left his family on the way home from Brancaster beach to take a shortcut but slipped and fell
Sergeant Alex Bucher, who helped co-ordinate the search operation, said: ‘Through our teamwork we were able to successfully locate Peter and return him back to his family on Father’s Day.
‘There is no doubt that without the police drone we would not have been able to locate him in the time we did. The police drone allows us to search areas that are difficult to access and within close range where a helicopter may not be able to get.
‘Approximately 50 people were directly involved with this search operation and it was through their dedication and hard work we were able to save this man’s life.’