Two officers who climbed a ladder to rescue a woman who was hanging off a tall building have won Essex Police Federation Bravery Awards.

In July 2023 PC Stu Francis and PC Grant Hawkins were on patrol when they were flagged down by a member of the public who reported that a woman was hanging off the edge of a building.

The officers immediately responded and found the woman hanging from the edge of the building by her hands. Knowing that time was of the essence, the officers grabbed a collapsing ladder from their vehicle, put it up and managed to climb up to where the incident was occurring. They had nowhere to stand other than a very small ledge with no protection.

PC Francis recalls: “We were able to get up onto the roof of the building where she was, and then we were able to climb along the edge and manage to get to her, by which point she’d sort of lowered herself off the edge and was hanging on just by her hands and her feet dangling over the precipice.

“I managed to get to her and grab hold of her, and then Grant came along beside me within a few seconds, and between us we managed to haul her up back over the edge, after which she went unconscious. I think it was some sort of overdose or something, and then we basically had to just look after her until we could get the ambulance and fire brigade to get her off the roof.”

PC Hawkins said: “Stu managed to get hold of one of her arms, her right arm. She was still hanging on. She was literally hanging on by her fingertips, almost unconscious at this point. It was weird how she could still hang on. I grabbed the other arm and we managed to yank her up. And then we thought that would almost be it then, but then she went unconscious.”

They worked as a team and used all their body strength to pull the woman to safety. Although she was breathing she was unresponsive, so the officers performed emergency first aid while waiting for an ambulance.

The officers remained with the female, monitoring her condition and offering reassurance. However they didn’t get any response, and the woman’s breathing was very shallow. The officers were genuinely concerned for her condition.

The woman went to hospital and got the help she needed from healthcare professionals.

On winning the Award, PC Francis said: “I felt really chuffed when I was nominated because it doesn’t come around very often. Both Grant and I have been in the police for quite a long time. We’ve dealt with various things over the years and we’ve worked together for a really long time as well, so we know each other really well. It was one of those incidents where you think, that was a real close one.”

Essex Police Federation Chair Laura Heggie said: “Stu and Grant had to act quickly, having been flagged down by a member of the public and not getting a chance to plan anything. They were calm and decisive as they worked together as a team, risking their own lives to rescue the woman.

“This incident shows once again how police officers are much more than crime fighters. It’s great that this dynamic duo can be recognised by their Federation for their courageous actions.”
The officers will attend the Essex Police Federation Bravery Awards on Thursday 16 May.

At the event a winner will be announced who will travel to London for the National Police Federation Bravery Awards in July.

The lead sponsor for the Awards is The National Police Healthcare Scheme.

Also sponsoring the Awards are Serve and Protect Credit Union, Rates Group, No 1 Copperpot Credit Union, Metfriendly, Niche, Uniform Mortgages, THB Legal, George Burrows, Arc Legal and Police Mutual.

The hashtag for the event is #EssexFedBravery.

If you are affected by this story, please contact the Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org/.