Dramatic river rescue sees police save wheelchair user's life

Multiple officers from Leicestershire Police raced to save a wheelchair user who had fallen into the River Soar. The disabled man had stopped breathing after falling into the fast-moving river.

The dramatic rescue took place on the river near Western Boulevard in central Leicester on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, but full details have only emerged this week after the five officers involved were announced as recipients of awards from the Royal Humane Society. The society said the officers had rushed to the scene after the man was heard shouting for help as he was washed down the river.

Andrew Chapman, secretary of the society, described the rescue as a "knife-edge situation". He said: "The man was being swept along face-down in the river and was obviously in serious danger of drowning. The river was fast-flowing because of recent heavy rainfall and conditions were treacherous. Anyone going in would be risking their life."

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Battling the fast-flowing river, the officers tried to grab the man has he floated quickly away, and after several failed attempts by other officers, Sergeant Kyle Hardy managed to get hold of the man Mr Chapman said: "Thankfully, PS Hardy managed to grab hold of the man as he was being swept along and then with other officers dragged him to safety.

"However, he wasn't breathing and they then had to fight to bring him back from the brink of death. And they succeeded."

Sergeant Hardy will receive Resuscitation Certificates from the society, along with the two others who assisted him with the CPR - PCs David Manning and Rickie-Lee Price. Police Sergeant David Benjamin and the fifth police officer - who cannot be named due to his current work - will both receive Certificates of Commendation for their part in the rescue.

Mr Chapman said: "They richly deserve the awards they are to receive. They were true life-saving heroes."

After the dramatic rescue, the man was rushed to hospital for further treatment and he made a full recovery. Mr Chapman said that if the police had not acted as rapidly as they did, he would almost certainly have drowned.

The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back nearly 250 years. Other than awards made by the Crown it is the main national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life. It was founded in 1774 and its main goal was to promote techniques of resuscitation. Since it was set up, the society has considered over 90,000 cases and made more than 220,000 awards. The society is a registered charity which receives no public funding and is dependent on voluntary donations.