Dad Had 'Hour To Live' After Being Engulfed By Mudslide

A man in Scotland was told he had less than an hour to live after being engulfed by a mudslide. Watch him recount his near-death experience here:

Last February, Matt Halliday went out for a walk around his local coastline near Kirkcolm, an area he's been walking for 35 years.

After receiving some bad news, the dad-of-four headed out to clear his head, walking along the coastline for a few hours.

However, a storm and the tide came in, catching him unawares and cutting off his route home.

"I'd failed to pay attention to the tide so I was cut off and getting soaked and cold," he recalled in a blog post from the Coastguard.

"I didn't want to cause a fuss so I thought I'd shelter by some caves and wait it out.

"I thought I can handle this, but that was the wrong thing to do because avoiding making a small fuss turned it into a huge big fuss."

As the 51-year-old huddled up against the rocks in the bitter storm, he slipped out of consciousness, until he was awoken by a mudslide.

HM Coastguard

He said: "I must have been unconscious but when the mud slip hit, the weight of it felt like my head was going to pop. By now it was dark. I knew I needed help. 

"I could barely move but managed to crawl out across the rocks and eventually got a weak phone signal. I called 999 and asked for the coastguard and got cut off, but they phoned me back."

The coastguard reached him by wading through a flooded access path, and after providing immediate casualty care, he was airlifted by helicopter to an ambulance which rushed him to hospital - where he arrived at 11pm, 14 hours after he initially set off on his walk.

HM Coastguard

Matt said: "I was told later that I had less than an hour to live had the rescuers not come to my aid.

"I am just so grateful and I'm exceptionally lucky to live to tell the tale. I never want to put myself or my family through that again.

"It's a lesson learned and in future, I'd definitely make that 999 call earlier."

Senior Coastal Operations Officer Richard Morgans said: "It doesn't matter how well you know an area and even the best prepared of people can still get caught out on our coasts.

"Luck was just not on Matt's side that day and it was a combination of small events that led to the perfect storm that caught him out.

"We'd say that if anyone's in trouble around our coasts at any time of the day or night, just give us a call on 999. Even if you don't think it's life-critical, a situation can escalate in seconds and that call could just save a life."