A FIVE-HOUR rescue operation took place to save retired midwife and district nurse Beryl Docking after the recent snow storm left her stranded in her Beary Hill farmhouse.
The 92-year-old and farmer Juan ‘Joe’ Bell were completely cut off, with no electricity, on Beary Farm above Glen Helen on the night of Thursday, March 21.
Beryl worked for decades delivering the babies of the west of the island and it was two of these babies – JCK boss James Cubbon and Colin Christie – who drove a digger up the three-quarters of a mile lane, which was filled with 12 feet of snow, to get her down to safety the next morning.
They came after Joe, 68, whose children and younger brother were also brought into the world by Beryl, spent a fraught night trying to keep both his beloved landlady and his animals alive.
‘I’m not one to panic,’ said Joe, ‘but at 3am that night when I was trying to cross from the farm buildings to the house I didn’t know if we were going to make it. I felt like Scott in Antarctica, it was horrendous.
‘I’ve never seen a storm like it – it was raging – worse than the snows of 1962/63.’
He explained: ‘Luckily there is an aga up there and I kept putting hot water bottles in with Beryl throughout the night to keep her warm. But if the aga had gone out we’d have been in trouble.
‘When I managed to get an hour’s sleep I had a blanket over my head and my feet stuck in the bottom of the aga.’
He said: ‘I called my daughter saying “tell somebody we’re up here”. She contacted the Department of Infrastructure who got straight on to JCK in the morning. James called me and told me “don’t worry we’re working our way up the hill” and when they emerged five hours later, boy, I was pleased to see them. To drive a digger up that lane is no mean feat, there’s a sheer drop on one side. I’m so grateful to them both but they did it for her really.’
With the help of some friends, Joe cleared the yard and took Beryl straight to his house in Peel where she’s been staying since. ‘She is unsteady on her feet and has bad arthritis but luckily we both came out of it fine,’ he said, ‘She’s like another mother to me.’
Beryl, who trained as a nurse in London during the war, was unfazed by the ordeal. She said: ‘The police were worried about me but I had Joe there with me and I knew he’d sort it out. I knew they were coming for me and Joe made sure I was warm enough. He’s very resourceful. I’m very grateful to him and his wife June.’
Joe added: ‘By the morning there was 16 feet of snow in the yard, I couldn’t even see my tractor and one of the rooves had collapsed with young cattle inside.’ He has 40 beef cattle, which all survived, and 180 sheep. ‘I managed to get a few sheep inside but there are still many missing,’ he explained. ‘I’ll be grateful if I have more than 30 per cent of my lambs left. The fields are all still covered in nine feet of snow and my next worry will be feeding the animals because all the grass will be dead.’
Joe’s surviving sheep have gone to Aileen Crebbin and 26 of his cattle went to John Maddrell until he can take them back. ‘I’m very grateful to them both for helping me out,’ he said.
He also thanked the DoI, Chris Kneale from DEFA and Marty Downey who was ready to help out. ‘People have just been fantastic,’ he concluded.