A ‘Cinderella’ teenager who feared she would miss her High School prom after being stranded in floodwater finally made it to the ball – thanks to firefighters.
Molly Spencer, 15, feared the six months of tireless planning she’d put into attending her prom would be ruined when torrential rain blocked the road outside her house.
But thankfully the fire brigade and a generous farmer offered to help and made sure the night didn’t end in disaster for the student.
She said: “It was a fairy tale ending. I was so relieved when they offered to help. I did not think I was going to make it at one point.
“I couldn’t believe it because they had so many people to help, I was really thankful that they offered to take me.
“I spent six months looking forward to it so I was really happy when I managed to go.
“I was the best night and I’m so happy I managed to make it.”
The rain began at around 1pm on June 25 and by 2.30pm it had blocked the road and flooded half of Molly’s house.
The fire brigade were in her street in Winfarthing, near Diss, Norfolk after they were called to rescue some twins from a flooded house.
They saw Molly’s predicament and worked together with a local farmer to help her get to her prom.
After some quick thinking they removed some of the fence panels from the back garden and helped her walk across a dyke at the back of the garden.
She then got into the tractor, carrying her prom dress wrapped in cellophane, which took her down the flooded road to the fire engine.
From there the fire service took her to a nearby friend’s house which wasn’t flooded.
Unfortunately they weren’t in so her mum Sally Spencer, 51, then had to wade down through the waist-height water to the house.
They then called her boyfriend Declan Oakley, 16, who picked her up and took her to the prom in at the Appleyard events venue in Banham, Suffolk.
The telesales worker said: “It is a prom day that will never be forgotten.
“I have lived here for 16 years and I have never seen anything like that (amount of water) before.
“The fire service were absolutely brilliant, considering how busy they were.
“They said she will go to the ball, and she did.”
Watch manager at Attleborough Fire Station Mark Wilson said it was one of the more peculiar incidents of a busy weekend for the service.
“The whole Winfarthing area was severely affected and it and it was one of the worst floodings I have seen in my area in that time,” he said.
Molly lives at home with her mum and father Frankie, 54, a chemical plant worker and her sister Sophie, 20, her brother Elliott, 14, Freddie, 12.
She attends Diss High School.
Despite the flooding the family’s house is still habitable.
ENDS
