Two Nottinghamshire Police officers have been honoured at the force’s annual award ceremony for saving a suicidal man’s life at the QMC.
PCs Mark Walker and Tim Mason attended the QMC on March 12 to relieve the night shift who had been supervising an injured prisoner.
However the officers heard a commotion on a different ward and ran to pull back in a man who was almost fully out of a smashed window five storeys above the ground.
PC Mason said: “I certainly wasn’t expecting to receive an award as I believe any officer would have done the same.
“I just felt very lucky that we were in the right place at the right time to be able to assist our NHS colleagues and help a man who was clearly having a very bad time.”
Having just taken over on the ward, the officers heard a commotion, shouting, smashing and a woman screaming further down the corridor.
The PCs entered another ward to see the man partly out of the window, bleeding profusely, being aggressive and intent on exiting the window head first.
The room was left with smashed glass and distressed nurses with no-one able to prevent the man from jumping to his death until the officers immediately grabbed the man who was almost fully through the window.
Despite his resistance, they pulled him back into the room and secured him.
The man, who had been admitted having previously attempted suicide, had smashed the window with a chair and tried to launch himself though it.
Once the officers had safely subdued the man, despite him still struggling, they continued to deal with the situation calmly until help arrived.
PCs Walker and Mason, who are both East Bassetlaw officers, suffered minor cuts as a result of their efforts but nothing serious.
Inspector Niall McCartney, who nominated them for Chief Constable’s Commendations, said: “The officers put themselves at very real risk in saving this man’s life.
“He was intent on suicide and there was a very real risk that he could have pulled one or both officers with him.
“The officers acted quickly and decisively and with little thought to their own safety to prevent him killing himself.
“With the ward being five storeys high, the man would certainly have fallen to his death.
“He was struggling violently and, with jagged and broken glass everywhere, the officers were in danger of serious injury from being pushed into it.
“The man was covered in blood and bleeding badly which made handling him all the more difficult.
“Despite the officers being aware of the dangers of blood-borne infection, they did not sway from their endeavour – they are thought to be safe from any blood infection.
“The nursing staff could not express their thanks highly enough and made it clear how very serious the situation was and that the officers’ intervention saved the man’s life without any doubt whatsoever.
“They have nothing but admiration for them and, in saving the man’s life, they have demonstrated the very essence of what being a police officer stands for.”
