Spanish Police Praise Expats For Rescue Of Retired British Couple

Spain’s Guardia Civil is heaping praise on the heads of two expats who saved an elderly British couple from a gas explosion.

John Frank and his friend Roger were enjoying a leisurely afternoon a home when gas bottles in a nearby house exploded. The pair rushed to their neighbours’ house and saw dementia sufferer Shirley standing in the middle of the living room in shock. Her clothes were burned off, her skin was black and she’d suffered major burns to her legs. Her husband, cancer sufferer Brian, was covered in blood and shattered glass.

After calling local emergency services, Roger and John switched off the electricity and gas supplies and grabbed buckets, filling them with water and putting out fires in the front room and kitchen. Westie, the elderly couples’ 12-year old dog, was also seriously burned and is now recovering at a local Guardamar veterinary hospital. Shirley and Brian were rushed to Torrevieja Hospital and later transferred to Alicante’s General Hospital burns unit. The cause of the potential tragedy is believed to have been a butane gas explosion, as the couple had just bought two new gas bottles.

The explosion was strong enough to blow out and shatter all the doors and windows in the kitchen area at the rear if the property as well as starting fires in the living room at the front. According to the Guardia Civil, the swift response by Brian and Roger prevented an even worse scenario given the condition of the old couple. All’s well that ends well, as Shirley and Brian are recovering from their ordeal and are expected to return home within a few days, and it’s also hoped Westie will be well enough to join them.