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.”
If you would like to help support our in-house team of former emergency services, NHS and armed forces personnel, then please consider becoming a donor.
With ad revenue continually fluctuating, we need the help of our readers and supporters to ensure that we can continue to bring you the stories which matter in a non-biased and non-inflammatory way.
You can pledge a one-off or monthly payment (via PayPal) by clicking HERE – any contribution/donor amount will be very much appreciated.
Our Editor & Founder will send a personal email to donors, thanking them for their generosity.
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories & video which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services & NHS by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services & NHS which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of you, our readers.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
