Four courageous officers from Ellesmere Port have been nominated for a national Police Bravery Award after saving a man threatening to jump off a bridge over the motorway.
The awards ceremony, hosted by the Police Federation of England and Wales, takes place at London’s Dorchester Hotel this evening (July 12).
All four Cheshire officers showed their mettle after a man called police because he was at risk of harming himself.
On arrival, officers saw he was on the wrong side of the railings directly over the M53 motorway near Ellesmere Port. The motorway was immediately closed but the man would not speak with officers.
Sgt Mark Woollam was forced to grab hold of him to stop him from falling.
PC Derek Morgan supported him and tried to hold on to the man while waiting for the fire service to arrive. However, the man started to slip off the ledge and hang from the bridge.
PCs Chris Francis and Jake Connolly grabbed on to him as he continued to slip – at one point both his feet and back were hanging over the motorway, with officers supporting his full body weight.
It became clear there was no time to wait for the fire service so PC Francis and Sgt Woollam removed their body armour so they could lean further over the railings and get a better grip of him.
The officers managed to wrestle the man over the railings to safety and he was taken to hospital. He came extremely close to falling from the bridge which would have caused serious, if not fatal injuries.
The Police Federation described the actions of all the officers as ‘both brave and selfless’.
Federation chair Calum Macleod said: “The Police Bravery Awards is one of the highlights of the year for me. It is always an honour and a privilege to highlight the extraordinary actions of these officers and to pass on the thanks of the whole police family, and members of the public, for their incredible bravery. The nominees exemplify the very best of British policing.”
