A Thames Valley Police officer who saved a man’s life while off-duty has been awarded for his heroism.
PC Henry Johnson, who works out of Amersham Police Station, received his award at a ceremony held at the police training centre in Sulhamstead on Monday, October 7, for his actions in saving a man’s life on the M40.
After finishing a 12-hour shift in Maidenhead, PC Johnson was driving home at around 7am in the dark and the rain when he noticed a male stood on the wrong side of the overbridge railings above the motorway.
PC Johnson pulled over and called out to the man to see if he was okay but was met with no response.
Speaking to Amershamnews, he said: “As I grabbed my radio and stepped out of my car, he just jumped and landed on the M40.”
The man landed on the M40, causing drivers to swerve to avoid him.
PC Johnson said that he thought: “If I don’t go down there, he is going to get hit.”
After calling in the incident, PC Johnson hurried down the slippery grass verge in the pitch black to get to the edge of the M40. He made the split-second decision to run onto the live motorway and pull the man to safety on the hard shoulder.
He said: “I would rather me be on the motorway for that period rather than standing on top of the M40 feeling hopeless.”
The man was rushed to hospital and it was believed that he would die from his injuries. PC Johnson said that a message was passed to him from the man’s wife, who wanted to thank him for “letting me and the kids say goodbye”.
Thankfully, the man made a miraculous recovery.
Inspector Jason Liles, who nominated PC Johnson for the award, said: “PC Johnson’s actions were incredibly brave and he undoubtedly saved this man’s life. I have no doubt that without his actions, it’s almost certain that this male would have been struck by a vehicle and his family would have lost him on this day.”
On receiving the award, PC Johnson he was “honoured and proud”.
He added: “There are so many things [which officers do] that don’t get recognised.”
so good to hear of the bravery of the police officer The Police needs to be supported instead of the constant critism of the force