Boy, 4, saves grandmother's life

A grandmother yesterday told how her four-year-old grandson saved her life by climbing 20 feet up a steep cliff to get help after a car they were travelling in on holiday plunged off the side of a road.

Lyn Maloney, 50, was driving Ryan Woods from the beach back to the villa their family had rented in Portugal, when an insect flew in and distracted her. The car swerved off the narrow mountain road and plunged 20 feet down a cliff before its slide was halted by a bush. The vehicle was balanced almost upside down, with the ground 25 feet below, and the engine still running. Mrs Maloney did not want to move in case she toppled the vehicle over, so asked Ryan to carefully climb into the front where he switched off the ignition. He then scrambled out of the car and fought his way through thick brambles to the top to bring help. Mrs Maloney said : "He's a little hero."