Bravery award for sea rescue man
Published: September 26, 2006
A WEST Cumbrian man has received a national bravery award after he saved an 11-year-old boy from drowning in rough seas at St Bees.
Richard Walker, 41, of Greysouthen, rescued Jason Adams, from Whitehaven, after he was washed into the sea while trying to save his younger brother Wayne.
Richard was presented with a Chief Constable’s Commendation and an award from the Royal Humane Society by Superintendent Kevin McGilloway.
The ceremony was held in Workington police headquarters on Monday.
Richard was on a day out with his family at St Bees in August 2004 when the incident happened.
He, his wife and his two children, now aged 10 and 12, were playing in rock pools when the weather changed.
As they headed back to shore a young boy ran over and said someone was drowning.
Richard and his fellow rescuer, Cliff McCreadie, 37, ran to the edge of the water and started shouting.
He said: “At first I couldn’t see anything, and then I saw this hand coming out from the waves.
“I thought to myself ‘it’s now or never’, and jumped in.”
His own daughter begged him not to go in, but he rushed into the crashing waves without a thought for himself.
He said: “All the time I was in the water I was aware that my own kids were watching and it really pulled at my heart strings. They pleaded with me not to go in.”
The two rescuers fought through powerful waves and strong currents to get to Jason and when they reached him he was already unconscious.
Although they were not strong swimmers, the pair managed to hold Jason’s head above the waves and pull him to shallow water, where they handed him to a lifeboat crew that arrived on the scene.
Jason recovered from his critical condition but 10-year-old Wayne was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.
Both rescuers sustained injuries to their legs due to the strong current pushing them against the rocks.
After receiving the award, Richard said: “I don’t feel heroic, I was just put in that situation and it was either do or die.
“I just kept thinking it could have been my kids in the water and I would hope that someone would do the same for them.”
Clifford McCreadie and four other men from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution crew were also presented with awards at an earlier ceremony.
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