Father's heartbreak at river plunge deaths

A heartbroken father has told of his devastation at the loss of his four youngest children, who died when their car plunged into a river.

Nigel Gresham, 36, was driving a Land Rover carrying his partner Sara Bolland and their seven children when it left a narrow track, near Coningsby, Lincolnshire, and crashed 15ft into the River Witham on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the heroic efforts of members of the public who dived into the water to help him drag a number of the youngsters from the submerged vehicle, doctors were unable to save them.

Two-year-old Willow Gresham died on Sunday. Angel, aged four, six-year-old Thor and eight-year-old Keavy have since died in hospital.

Nine-year-old Amber remains in a stable condition at a Leicester hospital. The other two children, Star, 13, and Liam, 12, escaped without serious injury.

In a statement released through Lincolnshire Police, Mr Gresham said: "We are totally devastated by what has happened and I hope no-one else ever has to go through what we are going through. Each of my children is like a ray of light."

He added: "People tell me that our children are always so polite, saying please and thank you. They were always helping their mum out, and were typical children in so many ways, cooking and baking together."

Mr Gresham praised the emergency services and medical staff who tried to help save their lives.

He said: "Everyone worked tirelessly, no-one stopped in their efforts. I saw doctors and nurses working so hard to help.

"We spent a night in A&E and the support we got from staff was phenomenal. They helped us through what I believe was initially the hardest part, just with their general kindness."

He also thanked the members of the public who jumped into the river to help rescue the youngsters, saying: "They might say anyone would have done it, but they actually did do it without hesitation. We will be forever grateful to them."

Talking yesterday of his attempts to save the children, rescuer Colin Dunlop said: "We just dived in, broke the window with a hammer and I set about hauling them out.

"They were lifeless, unconscious. I passed them to my brother-in-law, who carried them to the bank.

"The father had tried to do what he could but he was obviously in shock. After we pulled the last one out, he broke down in tears."

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.