𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬

[Hereford Voice]

“Whether I was in uniform or not, I would have done the same,” says West Mercia Police Federation member Chris Rogers, who has been nominated for a Police Bravery Award after risking his life to save a man from drowning.

Police constable Chris has told how he ‘went into auto-pilot mode’ when he saw a man fall from a 30-foot tall bridge.

The man, who was believed to be intoxicated, landed face down in the river and was unconscious, resulting in Chris running hundreds of metres before jumping into the water and swimming out to save him.

“If I’m honest, I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I went into complete auto-pilot mode,” said 35-year-old Chris.

“I’m actually a little bit embarrassed that I’ve even been nominated for an award. For me, I was just doing my job - and whether I was in uniform or not, I would have done the same.”

Chris, who joined the Force in 2008, described how the incident occurred after ‘two intoxicated men’ tried to enter a scene he was guarding.

“We prevented them from entering the scene after which they climbed up onto a bridge. Then, all of a sudden, one of them just fell,” father-of-three Chris continued.

“I immediately ran to towards the water and chucked off my stab vest. I jumped in to find the man face down, unconscious and floating. I couldn’t see his chest going up and down. He wasn’t breathing.”

At this point, Chris turned the man over and began CPR on his chest in an attempt to get him breathing. Chris pulled the male to the river bank where he continued CPR.

Eventually, the male coughed up blood and water, but he was still unconscious.

Chris’s police colleagues came to support him until the paramedics got there. The man was taken to hospital by ambulance and remarkably only suffered facial injuries as a result of the fall.

Chris added: “I didn’t speak to the man directly afterwards but I was told he wanted to say ‘thank you’ to me.

The bravery awards are organised each year by the Police Federation of England and Wales.

Along with nominees from police forces across England and Wales, Chris will be attending this year’s awards ceremony, which will be taking place on Thursday 13 July in London.