Bear Grylls saved my life, says grandma

A QUEENSLAND grandmother has credited British adventurer Bear Grylls with saving her life after her car was swept away in raging floodwaters.

Bear Grylls dines out in the Discovery Channel TV show Man vs Wild.

A QUEENSLAND grandmother has credited British adventurer Bear Grylls with saving her life after her car was swept away in raging floodwaters.

Christine McLaren, who has seven grandchildren, was only seconds from death on Sunday when her car was swept away in flood waters, the Bundaberg News Mail reported today

Six people have died in flood-related incidents over the past week as storms lashed Australia - four of them after vehicles were caught in swollen waters and two in accidents at swimming holes.

Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes across South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales as water engulfed cities and towns.

Ms McLaren said despite the urgency of the situation, she remembered instructions she had seen given by survivalist Grylls, who has achieved global fame through his Discovery Channel show, Man vs Wild.

"I remember what that Bear Grylls said to do if your car got in a flood,” she said. “I’d turned the ignition off, but remembered to turn it back on so I could open the back window and crawl out.”

In Man vs Wild, former UK Special Forces trooper Edward Michael Grylls - nicknamed Bear - is dropped into isolated, often dangerous areas where he demonstrates survival skills.

Read more at the Bundaberg News Mail.