Incredible Video Shows Moment Dad Saves Son Who'd Been Buried Under Snow

A dramatic video shows the moment a dad saved his son after he became buried under snow for 30 minutes while skiing.

Gillon Campbell said he had 'never been so scared' as when he realised his 11-year-old son Fox was buried under five foot of snow - and he may not have discovered him at all it wasn't for their transceivers.

Gillon was skiing off-piste in Chamonix, France, with Fox, his wife and his younger son on 28 December when Fox fell down a hole. Video from his helmet captures the moment he became buried under five foot of snow, prompting him to scream in panic.

Gillon assumed he had gone ahead with his mum, rather than waiting at the piste like usual, and so he and his other son caught the lift back up the mountain. Upon realising Fox wasn't with his mum, Gillon decided to retrace the route they had just skied, until he reached a point that felt 'different'.

Gillon said: "I skied back down into the gully and I was going along and something was different. The snow was different, it was crumblier on the ground.

"And my transceiver, I turned it to search, and it beeped at me. And it told me someone was in the snow really close by."

At this point, Gillon began digging frantically, in what was the most terrifying moment of his life.

He said: "I just dug like everything in the world mattered to me. That was a really, really scary moment - I mean, I've never been so scared.

"And I dug and I found his head about 1.5 metres under the snow and I cleared his head and he talked to me."

La Chamoniarde

In this heartbreaking moment of the video, the desperate Fox can be heard saying, 'thank you', amid floods of tears.

Gillon shouted for help and a nearby couple raised the alarm, with rescuers arriving to dig Fox out within a matter of minutes.

Gillon said: "I won't forget the moment I got to hold him. He was so cold but he was alive right, and he was, fine."

The Campbell family decided to share footage to raise awareness of the dangers of skiing off-piste and La Chamoniarde shared the video on its Facebook page, describing Fox as 'very lucky'.

The post read: "Beware of a false sense of security when skiing close to the piste!

"ONLY OPEN AND MARKED PISTES are SECURED. Even skiing close to the piste, is not on-piste therefore you are off-piste. Skiing off-piste carries many risks including avalanches, icy or hard snow, rocky outcrops, cliffs and holes... none of which are signposted! There are no signs to find your bearings, and no one to alert the ski-patrol.

"Fox was very lucky. Transceiver, probe and shovel are essential but do not prevent an avalanche.

"To ski off-piste, you need to know more than just how to ski! You must be aware of the dangers, that way you know how to avoid them."

Topics: hero, UK News

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey