A Greater Manchester Police officer who rescued a man from drowning in a freezing river has been nominated for The National Police Bravery Awards according to a recent press release from the Greater Manchester Police Federation.
PC Mohammed Nadeem was a student officer at the time of the incident which saw officers called out to deal with a clearly distressed man who was loitering on a bridge over the River Irwell in Stockport.
As PC Nadeem and colleagues arrived they could see that he had already jumped into the freezing waters below and was struggling to keep his head above water.
PC Nadeem immediately plunged in after the man in a bid to save his life. Such was the severity of the incident, PC Nadeem didn’t have time to remove his body armour or personal equipment.
The student officer managed to catch up with the man who by now was swimming ahead in the direction of a fast moving and dangerous weir.
PC Nadeem grabbed him and swam with him to the bank where colleagues were waiting with rescue perry lines.
PC Nadeem remained in the water with the man as fire crews arrived with ladders to haul them both out of the freezing February rapids.
The dramatic rescue was all captured on the PC’s body cam and his actions have received widespread praise and coverage from across the UK and beyond. Even from Baywatch star David Hasselhoff.
The man who jumped into the river has since received the treatment he needed.
Greater Manchester Police Federation Chairman Stu Berry said the fact that PC Nadeem was a student officer at the time made the rescue even more remarkable.
“He had to think on his feet and decide very quickly what he needed to do,” he said.
“For a student officer to act in the way he did and to save this man’s life in extremely challenging circumstances speaks volumes – we are all extremely proud of PC Nadeem.”
PC Nadeem will attend a reception and an evening awards ceremony in London in July.
The National Police Bravery Awards honour officers who have performed outstanding acts of bravery while on or off duty.
The awards are sponsored by Police Mutual.
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