Incredible survivor Bob Calloway – who has cheated death on six dramatic occasions in his action-packed life – was this week dubbed 'the luckiest man alive' by his grateful daughter, Itchingfield parish clerk Jan Critchley.

Bob, aged 86, had taken a shortcut through Tilgate Park, in Crawley, when he lost his way and was stranded from 5pm on Sunday evening until he was found by a dog-walker at 9am on Monday morning.

The brave grandfather was rushed to hospital with an infection he developed during the gruelling night in which he didn't sleep a wink as temperatures dipped to a chilling three degrees.

Now Bob's family want to track down and thank the kind man who found him exhausted and shivering and praying for help.

Jan, her son Mike, 23, from Barns Green, and daughter Ally, from Horsham, said it would be impossible to express how grateful they were to the heroic passer-by.

It's not the first time Robert has had a very luck escape.

The extraordinary OAP was a rear gunner on a Lancaster bomber during the Second World War – one of the most dangerous jobs of all time, with a life expectancy of just a week.

During the war, a bomb shelter he used every night suffered a direct hit on the night he chose to stay in the subway – the family in the shelter were killed.

In another brush with death, the chain came off Bob's push bike and a doodlebug hit the spot yards away where he would have been if he hadn't stopped.

Bob's incredible list of near death experiences includes a long and treacherous wade through strong currents that threatened to overwhelm him and a gas leak and explosion in his garage, which he miraculously walked away from unscathed after climbing out of a car well to find the devastating bang had blown the doors off the building.

And just two weeks ago, Bob fell through a sheet of plate glass at his home and came out of the accident with 'just a few scratches'.

Were you the man who stopped to help Robert? Call the County Times on 01403 751231 or email tim.raw@sussexnewspapers.co.uk

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