Jim Parker: 'Dad, please help me' - words that will stay with me for the rest of my life

Jim Parker: 'Dad, help me please' - words that will stay with me for the rest of my life'
So how would you react to a call which went something like this: “Dad, please help. I can’t stop the water coming in!”
It was from my son Adam. There was a sense of desperation and absolute fear in his voice
He was ringing from a holiday apartment in Skiathos on the Greek Islands
The island was taking a battering from its worst storm in many, many years.
Putting it simply Adam and his family - his wife, four daughters including a four-month-old baby, mother-in-law and mother-in-law - were trapped in their apartment by flood water which was rising rapidly

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A flood defence bank had burst its banks behind their accommodation which meant it was in the middle of two rivers flowing by and inside their rooms
I tried to calm my son. Bit difficult. As he spoke he was trying to hold back a door and five feet of flood water behind it
There was me more than 2,000 miles away, totally helpless and as afraid as he was.
They were not alone in this nightmare - there were reports of holidaymakers who were also trapped on the flood-ravaged island with some left with just the clothes they were wearing when hotels were evacuated because of the freak weather.
Some areas of Greece saw a year's worth of rain in just a day with torrents of water sweeping through streets, tossing aside cars and anything else that was in its way.
I fully appreciated this was an unprecedented disaster - in fact the Greek government had just declared the area a disaster zone with no power, no water, roads washed away and closed.
I got the disaster bit from my son in the apartment in the fading light with no power, no water, mobile phones about to go dead and the water still rising around him,.
Surely there was some kind of disaster rescue plan? Some way of communicating and/or hearing from holiday operators, in this case Jet2. Surely this was the time for compassion and re-assurance?
I managed to get through to the Jet2 rep in the same resort. All he could say in a rather arrogant and patronising way that he, too, was trapped not far away from my son's apartment, the emergency services had been alerted and they were safe.
He should have tried telling my son that who by this time had managed to get his terrified family out of a window one by and into a higher up property.
I tried national Jet2 numbers. One person who answered the call said he couldn't help unless my son gave permission. Another fobbed me off due to Data Protection.
Compassion? You must be joking!
Eventually, I got through to a call handler was was able to help. Thank God for him. He agreed to pass on details so my son and family could get some help.
I must admit I called in a few favours and made sure local and national newsrooms were aware of our plight.
Adam took advantage of a very short lull in the carnage and bravely led his family and others to the safety of a bigger and safe hotel
Have a guess what? All of a sudden Jet2 made contact with him. The hotel in question were brilliant, letting the eight of them share two beds in room before being flown home on a rescue flight two days later.
Jet2 were quoted as saying at the time that it was 'closely monitoring the situation with our customers’ best interests in mind'.
They added: "We are contacting all affected customers and they will of course receive a full refund.
"We are continuing to closely monitor the situation on the island and have been in touch with customers in resort by SMS to advise them of the situation, and to ask them to follow the advice of the local authorities as well as their hoteliers.
"In addition, our in-resort teams are working tirelessly to look after customers despite infrastructure challenges caused by the weather. We will ensure that we fly all of our customers home once conditions allow.
"We recognise that this is an extremely difficult and unpleasant experience for our customers, and we of course are extremely sorry to hear this.
"Although extraordinary events such as these are completely outside of our control, our absolute focus is on doing everything we can to look after everyone."
Sorry, that's not how it felt neither for me, Adam or our families.
I don't mind admitting I shed a tear when I knew they were safe. His words: 'Dad please help me' will stay with me for the rest of my life
All I was looking for was some compassion and human kindness....