HEROIC police officers who jumped into freezing water to rescue a stricken dad and his daughter received bravery awards at a ceremony last night.
In the middle of the night last August, South Yorkshire Police received a 999 call from a man saying his daughter was suicidal and had entered a canal on Common Lane, Barnsley.
He was wading out to save her, but as he started to give an area description his phone cut out.
PC Ben Child and PC Adam Morton arrived on the scene and initially couldn’t find the pair, but then they heard the man’s shouts for help.
They found both of them in the canal, where the man was struggling but managing to hold his daughter’s head above water.
Eventually the pair reached the father and daughter - who was unconscious - and got them out of the water and onto the bank before an ambulance was called.
PC Child and PC Morton attended the South Yorkshire Police Federation Bravery Awards last night.
PC Morton said: “We couldn’t tell if she was conscious or breathing, so Ben and I just looked at each other and nodded, and then we took our body armour off and jumped in.
“We struggled to get across, so we had to float across on top of the reeds.
“The woman had got tangled up in them and if we’d tried to swim through it we would have got tangled up as well.
“I was surprised to receive the nomination, but I was happy as I really didn’t expect it.
“After all, colleagues across South Yorkshire Police do amazing things every day.”
The father and daughter were taken to hospital to be treated and the woman was given mental health support.
PC Morton said he felt ‘privileged and honoured’ to be nominated for a bravery award.
He added: “It puts it into perspective when you reflect on it but if PC Child hadn’t been there as well, it could have been a different outcome.
“He did a really good job - he was making sure the woman was okay while I was keeping her warm, and he passed communications back to our colleagues on the other side of the canal.”
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent praised the heroic duo.
“This incident once again shows how police officers are much more than crime fighters,” he said.
“The quick thinking and selfless actions of Ben and Adam saved this young woman’s life and possibly that of her father as well, who had already been in the water for a considerable time and was unable to get his daughter to safety.
“The officers’ decisions to place themselves at such risk to save the lives of members of the public is testament to their selflessness, bravery and professionalism.”
