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Rescuers thankful they were looking the right way

Photo by Glenn TuckerFairmont Southampton employees Derek Jones, Luscious Lindo and Errol Vassell stand on the steep bank in Southapton that a SUV plunged over on Monday the golf course grounds keepers rescued Kim Rhoda Bean and her two young children from the vehicle.

If they'd blinked at the wrong moment, golf course workers might never have spotted Kim Rhoda-Bean's SUV career off the road and go hurtling towards a cliff on Tuesday morning.As it was, Derek Jones, Luscious Lindo and Errol Vassell were in the right place at the right time the seventh green at the Fairmont Southampton to see the vehicle plunge to what they thought could be a tragic end.Yesterday, the three men told The Royal Gazette how they ran down a steep and slippery bank to reach the car, where it had come to a standstill inches from a severe drop, before pulling Ms Rhoda-Bean and her two young children to safety.The Jamaicans said it was only chance that they were on that green at that time, and only luck they were facing the right way to witness the incident.“If we hadn't been looking that way nobody would have been able to see where her car had disappeared to,” said Mr Jones.“The car was way off the road, among the vegetation, where it was difficult to see. She could have been another missing person.”Even if Ms Rhoda-Bean had managed to call the emergency services, it could have only taken one sudden movement from either four-year-old Kuhn Bean or nine-year-old K'ari Bean on the back seat to cause the vehicle to tumble to the ocean and rocks 150ft below.Mr Jones, Mr Lindo and Mr Vassell's immediate response meant they all escaped with no serious injury.“A lot of things were going through my head,” said Mr Jones. “If the car had gone just a bit further it would have gone into the water.“Luckily it had stopped and we were able to get to it to help them out.”Mr Lindo said: “I just tried not to panic but my knees were shaking. The mother was saying, ‘Could you get the kids out please?' I said, ‘Just relax'.“We got the girl out the door first, and then we got the other youth out, and then the mother. She was shaking. It could have been much worse.”Mr Jones said: “This was just a blessing for her and her kids. I was shaken up all day yesterday. Before ten o'clock, I took two bottles of water and I gave her a bottle of water.“I'm just happy to know they came out alive and we were right on the scene.”Mr Jones said Ms Rhoda-Bean was not driving fast and may have lost control after hitting a wet patch of road. He said a number of accidents have taken place on that spot, and that a harder surface is needed.