Top national honours for 'heroic' rescuers who stopped two attempted suicides on Orwell Bridge in Ipswich
The three police officers, two nurses, and man who stopped two separate attempted suicides on the Orwell Bridge on the A14 at Ipswich earlier this year have been awarded top national life-saving honours.
In May, PC Harvey, Colchester nurses Catherine Ritson and Zoe Reynolds, and Gary Birch from Cotton found themselves in early morning trying to stop a man jumping to his death from the 43-metre high bridge.
In March, PCs Romina Fernandez and Sophie Mitchell put their own lives at risk by joining a man on a narrow parapet on the bridge and talking him out of jumping.
The four life-savers in the May incident have been awarded Royal Humane Society Certificates of Commendation, and the two officers in the other incident Testimonials on Parchment by the Society.
Andrew Chapman, secretary of the Royal Humane Society said: "There is no doubt that all six of the rescuers in these two incidents were the right people in the right place at the right time, particularly PC Harvey.
"If he had been seconds later reaching the point where the man was he would not have been able to grab him and stop him falling.
"Thankfully he got there in time and the other’s stopped to help.
"They all did a wonderful job and saved the man’s life.
"And in the other incident the two officers put themselves in danger by joining the man here he was standing precariously on the ledge and thankfully they managed to talk him out of it.
"All six of these rescuers were heroic and richly deserve the awards they are to receive."
Mr Chapman added: “We are always anxious to receive nominations from anyone who knows some-one who has saved a life and who they believe merits an award from us.
"We suspect quite a few people responsible for acts of bravery and life-saving don’t always get put forward for our awards and as a result don’t get the public recognition they deserve."
The Royal Humane Society was started up in 1774 and today The Queen is its patron and Princess Alexandra the president.
It is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life.
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