A heroic Manchester police officer risked his own life to save an ‘unresponsive’ man from a canal.
Police raced to the reports of welfare concern at Ashton Canal in Ashton-under-Lyne at around 5pm last Wednesday.
On arrival, the officers discovered a man in the water. They shouted to him so they could attempt to use guidelines to pull him to safety but he failed to respond.
Watching him drift towards an unlit tunnel – which would mean losing him to sight – brave PC Briggs decided to remove his PPE and other kit and jump into the canal to rescue him.
Once PC Briggs had reached him in the canal, his colleagues used rescue lines to pull them both to safety. The unresponsible male was rushed to hospital for treatement following his ordeal.
It is not clear how or why the man had entered the water.
Chief Superintendent Chris Allsop for GMP’s Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside districts said: “As with any incident we respond to, the safety of the public is our number one priority and sometimes that means putting them first, ahead of your own safety.
“Every day our officers and staff go above and beyond to protect the communities we serve and this is certainly a great act of heroism.
“PC Briggs put himself in danger to rescue the man and thanks to his brave and selfless actions, as well as the help of other officers, the man survived and is receiving the support he needs.
“In this current climate, it can be even more difficult to do our jobs safely and I would like to personally commend PC Briggs’ actions which were a prime example of why people join the force – to protect our communities and make sure they are safe from harm.”
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