A hero police officer risked his life to save a drunk man who fell 30ft into a river. Chris Rogers, of West Mercia Police, sprung into action when he watched the man fall off a bridge.
The police constable found him face down in the water and took him to safety before starting CPR. Miraculasly, the man escaped with just facial injuries.
And now Chris has been nominated for a Police Bravery Award following his heroics. The dad-of-three said: “Whether I was in uniform or not, I would have done the same.”
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Chris ran hundreds of metres before jumping into the water and swimming out to save the man after the incident unfolded in front of him. The 35-year-old added: “If I’m honest, I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I went into complete auto-pilot mode.
“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 me’ 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,” he said. “I immediately ran 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 man 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, July 13 in London.
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