WRITER and disability campaigner Hannah Rose was rescued by Minehead firemen with spades and shovels after her wheelchair sank into deep sand on Dunster Beach during a family holiday.
Hannah, 34, from Cheshire, was on the beach with relatives on the evening of September 18 when she moved her wheelchair nearer the sea.
But, despite the help of family and other holiday-makers, it became embedded in the sand.
“I have been in a wheelchair for 18 years and had never been in a situation like that,” Hannah said.
“We tried everything but couldn’t get the chair out and eventually called the emergency services. The fire service were amazing.”
A member of the Minehead fire crew said: “It was a privilege to meet such a lovely lady and her family who appreciated our help so much. Hope you and your family enjoyed the rest of your stay.”
Hannah has written two best-selling books on how she has overcome her disability after being paralysed from the neck down by a virus when she was 15.
This week she was speaking at the Labour Party conference on assistive technology in the workplace.
Full story in tomorrow’s Free Press.