A 39-year-old British woman sleepwalked straight into the sea — and only woke up when she swallowed a mouthful of seawater. Marie Lord was fast asleep when she left her home in Weston-super-Mare, England, at around 1:30 a.m. one morning last month, according to the Bristol Post.
She walked for more than half a mile to the beach before walking down a set of steep concrete steps. Marie Lord was then shocked when she suddenly regained consciousness — and found herself in the freezing cold water.
She walked out of the surf — and her disoriented cries for help were luckily heard by a nearby hotel employee. Lee Searle ran down to grab the clearly confused Lord, bundled her up in blankets and brought her into the building.
The 21-year-old then calmly called emergency services and Lord was taken to the nearby Weston General Hospital. Lord was treated for the onset of hypothermia before returning home.
Marie Lord has praised Lee for his quick-thinking actions, which she says saved her life.
It’s absolutely mind blowing to think about what could have happened, All I remember is seeing is a flashing star and it all seemed like a dream. Sometimes, depending on the wind, we can hear the sea from our house. I remember thinking ‘gosh, it’s ever so clear tonight, it’s like I’m there’ – but obviously I was.”
The incident happened about two weeks ago after Marie – who has not suffered an episode of sleep walking since she was 13 – settled down for the night as normal.
She explained: “I went to bed as normal, next to my husband, and did all the usual things – rolling on to the comfiest side etc.” The walk from her house to the beach would normally take around seven minutes and is dangerous in places.
Marie said: “There’s loads of steps and slopes. Concrete steps that I don’t usually go down because they are so tall and steep.
“I’m only 4ft 10in and I have really short legs so I don’t usually go down them without my husband or some kind of aid.”
The next thing she remembers is waking up staring at the stars and scrambling out of the water. Luckily Lee, 21, who was three hours into his night shift at the seafront Anchor Head Hotel, heard her cries.
