Dad of two Nick Perkins has been hailed a have-a-go hero after rescuing a car load of people whose vehicle was swept off a crossing into crocodile-infested waters in Australia.

Nick, aged 33, who grew up in Laxey, has been living in Darwin, in Australia, for six years working in construction and landscaping.

He had been returning home after doing some remote work in the bush with his boss Clayton Dwyer.

They were at Cahills Crossing and had decided it was too dangerous to attempt, when they saw a 4x4 enter the water and get swept into the crocodile-infested waters.

Nick, whose dad is Garff MHK Martyn Perkins, told the Manx Independent: ’We looked at the river crossing and thought we aren’t going to try and cross it, the water looked too ferocious.’

He said the crossing, which is tidal but also drains a large flood plain, looked completely different to when they had safely crossed it previously.

’We watched a couple of vehicles go through, including a car that was towed by a lorry,’ Nick said.

’It would have been swept away otherwise.

’We had been sat there for some hours when we saw a group on the other side of the river in a Toyota Troupe.

’As they entered the water all of the passengers were already on the roof.’

They watched in horror as the vehicle was swept off the narrow crossing, throwing some of the passengers into the water.

’We were like, oh my god, what are we going to do?

Adrenaline

’It’s pretty remote and help is a long way off, and the river is full of crocodiles.’

He said that ’adrenaline kicked in’ and the pair cautiously reversed their truck into the water.

After a couple of attempts, they managed to manoeuvre into position so they were able to help everyone get to safety, including three people that they pulled out of the fast-flowing water.

The rescue was made all the more difficult by the fact the passengers were drunk.

’We quickly realised the occupants were pretty drunk and difficult to communicate with and to give instructions to,’ Nick said.

’We pulled them in as best as we could. We were just focused on helping these people out.

’There was one guy I thought was going to drown or get eaten by a crocodile.

’They were all very lucky.’

Clayton has described Nick as a hero but Nick rejected the claim, saying: ’I was just trying to help some people out.’