A dad known as the local 'cat rescuer' felt like an 'idiot' when he was left clinging to a 30ft high tree and had to be rescued by firefighters - when a freak storm blew his ladder over.
John Jennings says he's well known in the local community for saving cats from trees so was left embarrassed when he had to be rescued himself by the fire brigade after his apparatus was blown over by a gust of wind.
The roofer had been balancing on a tree trunk to trim branches that were overhanging onto a roof he was retiling on 5th October when the calm weather suddenly turned and strong winds blew his route of escape over.
The dad-of-four was left clinging to the tree 30ft in the air while his colleague darted indoors to protect his hearing aid from the rain.
John, who is in his late 50s, frantically called his son John Jr, 34, for help but he was on the motorway heading the opposite direction.
He says he feared the tree would fall with him on it so he quickly dialled 999 and three firefighters arrived to rescue him.
John, from Chester, Cheshire, said: "Nothing much scares me but I panicked. I wouldn't say I was scared, I thought the tree is coming down with me on it and I'll end up with it on top of me so maybe I was scared of getting squashed.
"The tree is in next door's garden which is 15ft lower than the garden I was in so I was about 30ft high. I could have died if I'd landed on the concrete.
"It's never happened to me before in 30 years of being a roofer.
"I go and rescue cats. People will post in the local community group that their cats are stuck on a roof or in a tree and I go and get them.
"I've rescued one cat out of a tree and three cats from a roof. I've rescued the same cat from the same roof twice so it's ironic that it's me being rescued, it's about time.
"I was doing the roof and the neighbour's trees were hanging over onto the roof. It was sunny, I put my ladder up and got onto the tree.
"The trees were really in my way. I didn't have a harness on, I was cutting any branches I could reach and thought I was done. I came down and my mate pointed out two more.
"I thought what I'd done would do but because he said 'what about them two?' I thought the owner of the house would notice. It's basically my mate's fault.
"I put my ladder back up against the branch I was going to cut off because I couldn't reach it. When you take the weight off the ladder it, it can lift up so if I cut it while my ladders are on it, I can fall so I put my harness on.
"I got onto the branch to reach up. I felt some big drops of rain and all of a sudden it went from sunny and calm, a few big spots of rain and a big gust of wind and hailstones.
"I was thinking 'I need to hold on'. I had to get further into the tree. I wasn't holding the ladder because it was calm.
"I got onto the tree and the ladder flew off, onto the gutters and smashed the gutters.
"I thought 'great, the ladder is gone'. I'm on the tree. I was soaked. I thought 'I'm in trouble here'.
"I rang my son John and he was on the motorway heading out of town.
"I rang 999 and said 'I've got a problem. I think the tree is going to blow over'. This wind was rocking and swaying and I thought it would go over with me on it."
John says the fire brigade arrived within minutes with sirens and flashing lights to help him back down to safety leaving John feeling like 'an idiot'.
John said: "Within three or four minutes I could hear them. They had lights and sirens on and everything.
"As soon as the fire brigade got there, the sun came out and the wind stopped.
"They got me down. I said I felt like an idiot and they said I'd done the right thing. One said he heard the wind in the fire station and said he thought they'd get calls. He'd seen what I felt but I was up a tree.
"I was soaked to the skin and cold. I've never experienced weather like it. I've had storms but not so fast, you see it coming in. I've never experienced anything like it."
Station Manager of Chester Fire Station Andy Gray said: "We received a 999 alert that a man had become stuck in a tree because his ladder had fallen down, blown over by the wind.
"Our crew was able to help him down from the tree using a ladder. I would advise anyone who is working at height to wear an appropriate harness, tied off to the tree or other structure and, where appropriate, to tie the top of the ladder to where you are working."
