‘I’m not sure I can take much more’: Former High Sheriff’s last words to her husband before the 63-year-old was swept away to her death in floods
- Annie Hall, 69, and her husband Michael, 77, were driving home on November 8
- But their car became stuck in rising floodwaters near Rowsley in Derbyshire
- Couple desperately fought to survive as car was carried away by rising waters
- Michael paid tribute to his ‘one in a million’ wife at a service at Derby Cathedral
Former High Sheriff of Derbyshire Annie Hall died after being swept away by floodwater
The grieving husband of a former High Sheriff swept to her death by last month’s floods has revealed the last thing she said to him was: ‘I’m not sure how much of this I can take’.
Millionaire businesswoman Annie Hall, 69, and her husband Michael, 77, were driving home in the early hours of November 8 when their car became stuck in rising floodwaters.
The mother-of-four drowned in the Derwent, near Matlock, after getting out of the stranded car and being dragged away by fast-flowing water.
Her husband has now paid tribute to her, speaking for the first time since her death during a memorial service held at Derby Cathedral on Monday.
‘The water was at such a speed you could hardly pick your foot off the floor,’ Mr Hall, 77, said.
‘Sadly, Annie said, “I’m not sure how much of this I can take,” Mr Hall told mourners at the cathedral.
He said said his wife had become very concerned with water reaching thigh-high, The Telegraph reported.
When she fell for the fourth time, Mr Hall said he was unable to hold on to her.
‘I had hold of her hands but hadn’t got the strength to pull her back and she was swept away,’ he said.
He then clung to a lamppost for his life before finally being rescued by emergency services, he added.
Mrs Hall, 69, and her husband Michael, 77, were driving home in the early hours of November 8 when their car became stuck in rising floodwaters. They are pictured together in front of the Derwent
Mr Hall said the next thing he knew, rescuers in boats and a JCB truck hauled him up a hill, through the floods, to safety.
He was rushed to Chesterfield Royal Hospital, with staff telling him that he was lucky to be alive.
Mrs Hall’s body was found in flooded farmland around half a mile from their car following a manhunt throughout the night.
The flooded River Derwent in Derbyshire on November 8, near where the body was discovered
Tragically, he returned to the scene the next day to find his wife’s handbag.
Mrs Hall had two children from a previous marriage, and married Michael in 2002. She was a well-known businesswoman in Derbyshire who did a lot of charity work.
She was chairwoman of Derby Cathedral Council and a regular worshipper at her local church, Holy Trinity.
Mrs Hall served as High Sheriff of Derbyshire, a ceremonial role appointed by the Queen, in 2017.