Brave Telford police officers who saved girl trying to jump from bridge over A442 are honoured
Two Telford police officers who prevented a teenage girl from jumping from a bridge over the A442 are to receive national awards for their bravery.
Police had been alerted after the girl ran away from a care home. On the evening of January 23 last year, PCs Peter Smith and Samad Shabbir spotted her riding a bike and PC Shabbir got out of the car and ran after her. However, he could not catch her and returned to the police car.
The girl had disappeared but the officers spotted her again later. This time when she saw the car she ran to the bridge and climbed on to the outside of it. As they reached the bridge PC Shabbir, who thought she was about to jump, jumped out of the still-moving police car, managed to grab her and pull her back to safety. PC Smith then joined him and they managed to get the girl into the police car and take her back to her carers.
Now the two of them have been awarded Royal Humane Society Certificates of Commendation for saving the girl's life and preventing a possible road disaster. They have also won the personal praise of Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Society.
"There was no knowing what the girl would do," he said. "But when the two officers traced her and saw that she was on the bridge there was no time to lose. PC Shabbir didn't even wait for the car to stop before he jumped out, ran to the girl and grabbed her.
"If the girl had jumped from the bridge or fallen there is no telling what could have happened next. The road below was a busy trunk road and it could have caused a major disaster. The two officers did a magnificent job first in finding the girl and then getting her to safety."
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