Heroic police save life of woman scrunched in ball on wrong side of 30ft bridge on A1
A police sergeant has described the ‘heart-racing’ moment he saved the life of a woman who was scrunched in a ball on the wrong side of the railings on a 30ft-high bridge on the A1.
Worksop-based Response Sergeant Tony Rungay climbed up the far side of the bridge to get on the opposite side of the road.
He dodged traffic on the southbound carriageway, making his way across the northbound section, which had been closed, to stop her running out into traffic and talk to her.
“It was after midnight and luckily the southbound carriageway wasn’t so busy but my visibility was hampered by darkness,” he said.
“It was difficult to judge the speed of vehicles but I waited for a gap before running across and making my way back towards the bridge.
“I didn’t want her to be spooked because of the danger of her falling so I crept up to her. As I inched closer and closer I started crawling towards her on my stomach.
“Every time traffic came past I was able to get a glimpse of her in their headlights.”
He got to within 20ft of her and saw she was scrunched up in a ball on the other side of the railings, which she held.
“I knew we had a negotiator travelling so was happy to wait it out but then I heard her coughing, choking and struggling for breath,” said Sgt Rungay.
“My heart was racing and I thought if I didn’t do something quickly she was going to fall. I knew I had to grab her.
“I ran forward and grabbed her in a bear hug through the railings. I just held onto her and tried to comfort her until other officers managed to reach us.
“The adrenaline was running through me because it could still have gone wrong after I’d grabbed her.
“One of my colleagues got to us within seconds. He held her and we managed to pull her underneath the railings to safety.
“We had to restrain her for her own safety and we checked her for any injuries.”
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