- . Boy named Charlie climbed ladder at hotel and got stuck on 40ft roof
- . Mother tried to rescue him but got stuck herself and looked on helpless
- . Bystander Preston Likely climbed up drainpipe and kept Charlie safe
By HUGO GYE
These amazing pictures show the moment a toddler who crawled onto the roof of a hotel was rescued by a brave stranger.
The little boy was stuck 40ft above the ground, and witnesses feared he was in imminent danger every time he moved.
But passerby Preston Likely scrambled up a drainpipe to reach two-year-old Charlie and took him to safety.
Rescue: Preston Likely pictured holding a toddler, Charlie, on the roof of a hotel as the boy's mother looks on
Brave: The author and artist climbed up a drainpipe to take the toddler out of danger
The boy had somehow climbed up a 20ft ladder leaning against a wall at the Tree Hotel outside Oxford and then scaled the steep roof.
Guests enjoying an evening drink in the garden of the £109-a-night hotel last Saturday were shocked to see the toddler perched on the roof high above them.
Witnesses called the fire brigade, but Charlie could have tumbled from the roof at any moment while they waited for help to arrive.
His panicked mother tried to rescue him herself, but got stuck before she could reach him.
Bystanders: Hotel guests were horrified to see Charlie precariously balancing on the roof
Waiting: Mr Likely grabbed on to the child and stopped him falling until the fire brigade arrived
Mr Likely, 42, climbed up the side of the building to reach the boy, and held on to him for 15 minutes until fire crews were at the scene.
The artist and author said: 'I was about to sit down when I noticed a large crowd of people staring at something.
'I thought it was some sort of gathering. Then I looked up and saw the child on the roof tottering about.
'I threw my bag down without thinking and just climbed up and grabbed him. It was instinctive, I didn't think, I just scrambled up.'
Mr Likely, who has previously made headlines for his witty art projects, added: 'He was wriggling about, and for a two-year-old was very powerful.
'It made it all the more precarious and I really had to squeeze to hold onto the little guy.
Impulsive: The hero said he launched his dramatic rescue 'without thinking' and added that it seemed unreal
Desperate: Charlie's mother tried to reach her son but got stuck on another part of the roof
'You don't have time to process it while it's happening, you just have to act and then think about it later.'
He later wrote on Twitter: 'This still feels as though it happened to somebody else.'
His friend Linsey Denholm, who captured the rescue on her camera phone, described joining the crowd watching Charlie on the roof.
'It was pretty scary as he was up there and looked like he was in danger,' she said. 'Our hearts were in our mouths, every time he moved we were gasping with horror as he could have easily fallen off.
Preston Likely, 43, helped save the two-year-old who managed to climb several meters to the top of the hotel roof
Scary: Linsey Denholm said people were gasping with horror as her friend Mr Likely tried grabbed the youngster by the waist before bringing him down to safety
'We started circling the roof so that if he did fall one of us could catch him, and his mother was trying to talk to him to calm him and say that the fire brigade were on their way.
'But she was stuck on the other side of the roof and was becoming increasingly panicked.
'Preston arrived and within a minute he was up on the roof. He shimmied up the drainpipe and went up the roof, there were a few scary moments where his foot slipped but he managed to grab the little boy.
'He held on to him until the fire brigade arrived and got all three of them down.'
Hotel manager Namit Julka said he was 'very glad' that the boy was rescued safely.
A spokesman for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: 'The brave actions of the member of the public made sure that the child was safe and the fire service could bring everyone down to the ground.'
Luxury: The rescue happened last Saturday at the £109-a-night Tree Hotel outside Oxford
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