Ron Easton believed to have fallen after climbing ladder to adjust TV aerial at Devon home

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A 102-year-old man who survived three days face down on the roof of his house is in a stable condition in hospital.

It is thought that the man, named locally as “Ton-Up” Ron Easton, a former racing driver, was injured after climbing up to adjust his television aerial.

“He’s got a saw and a rake with him,” the handyman who found him told a 999 call operator. “I don’t know what on Earth he was doing. And he’s up a ladder about eight or nine foot.”

Play Video 1:57 Emergency call after 102-year-old man was stuck on roof for three days – audio

Easton was rescued on Wednesday morning after a neighbour in the seaside town of Bigbury-on-Sea, Devon, noticed he had not been picking up his milk.

Trish Bagley, who delivers Easton’s milk and papers every day, rang his bell and called his phone after noticing Monday’s and Tuesday’s bottles still on his doorstep. “He always takes his milk in every day so alarm bells rang,” she told BBC News.

The first paramedic on the scene, Nigel Toms, of the South Western ambulance service, said he found Easton face down on a rake in a gully between the gable roof of his bungalow and the flat roof of an extension.

“He was in a bit of a pickle; but I reached him fairly easily, and got a response,” Toms said. “His life was definitely at risk. So he’s a very fortunate man.”

A spokesman for Devon and Somerset fire and rescue said they were called to the scene at 10.40am. “It appears he had climbed on to the roof using a ladder,” the spokesman said.

“Crews from Kingsbridge and Greenbank attended and rescued the man using ladders and the stretcher from the air ambulance with paramedics and the air ambulance crew.”

Easton was airlifted to Derriford hospital, which told the BBC on Thursday that he was in a stable condition, despite his ordeal.

Bagley was optimistic about her neighbour’s prognosis: “He’s a strong man. He’s always out in the garden. Hopefully he will make a full recovery.”