Police Bravery: National award for fire hero Pc
Published: July 7, 2006
A HEROIC police officer who saved a lorry driver’s life when he pulled him from a blazing vehicle is in line to scoop a prestigious national award.
Pc David Sargent will compete for the title of Community Officer of the Year at the glitzy Police Bravery Awards ceremony in London next week.
Having already earned the title of Lincolnshire’s bravest officer, the Spalding constable will join 56 of the most courageous police in England and Wales at the ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel on Thursday.
Pc Sargent (23) was put forward for the award following his life-saving actions at the scene of a horrific crash on the A16 in Spalding, on February 6 last year.
When the policeman and his colleagues arrived at the scene, they found an articulated lorry had been in a collision with a car before careering off the carriageway and landing on its side.
The lorry had burst into flames, was leaking fuel from its tank and was oozing toxic smoke, while the driver remained trapped inside his cab.
Without a thought for his own safety, Pc Sargent clambered into the cab of the smouldering lorry and carried the driver to safety, with the help of a member of the public.
Moments later, the lorry was engulfed in a fireball – and had the lorry driver not been rescued, he would certainly have lost his life.
Instead, he escaped with just a broken arm and needed treatment for shock and smoke inhalation.
A humble Pc Sargent said: “It’s something that will always stay with me.
“I’ve never been to the scene of an accident like that.
“But I didn’t give it a second thought before going in, I was just doing my job.
“It was a totally surreal experience, and I don’t think it really sank in until afterwards.”
Pc Sargent, who has already been awarded a Royal Humane Society Award, is looking forward to the ceremony in London, but the modest officer is not expecting to take the national prize.
He said: “I’m very proud to be nominated, but there are police out there who have done far more brave things than me.
“There are officers who have been faced with knives and guns.” [Dear America: The Seasons of Bravery Collection]
Lincolnshire Police Federation secretary Lew Bailey said: “We are all very proud of David’s actions on that evening.
“He is a young officer who, despite the very real chance of suffering personal injury, still entered a burning vehicle to save the life of the driver.
“Without David’s courageous actions, the lorry driver would probably not be alive today.
“He is a shining example to us all.”
Pc Sergent will join other officers at a Downing Street reception with Prime Minister Tony Blair, before heading to the ceremony in the presence of Home Secretary John Reid.
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