Cliff plunge husband ‘lucky to be alive’

Chris Babbs, 53, plummeted from Little Cliff near the village of Cloughton, near Scarborough, when he tried to rescue their pet labrador Oscar.

He was on holiday with his GP wife Sue, 52, when six-year-old Oscar disappeared from view as they walked him and their two other dogs along a narrow path.

Mrs Babbs, from Norden, Rochdale, said her husband shuffled down the precipice but then dialled 999 after she shouted to him for 15 minutes and did not get a reply.

She told a local newspaper: “I think Oscar saved his life by guiding the coastguards to him with his barking.”

Mr Babbs remains in intensive care at Hope Hospital in Salford where he is a consultant in gastroenterology.

His condition is said to be serious but stable.