Uniformed Hero nomination – Ben Kelly and Louise Ball
Uniformed Hero nomination – Ben Kelly and Louise Ball
A woman’s life was saved by the quick actions of two North Staffordshire firefighters who noticed she was looking to jump from a bridge or run into oncoming traffic.
Firefighters Louise Ball and Ben Kelly have been nominated in the Uniformed Hero category of the Your Heroes Awards by Chief Fire Officer Rob Barber of Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service in recognition of their quick thinking, fast actions and bravery.
Louise and Ben are both stationed with Green Watch in Hanley and were returning from an operational incident along the A500. As they neared the Shelton New Road bridge they noticed a woman on the bridge and sensed she was in danger.
Ben spotted her in distress, insisted she was trying to jump and that they needed to go and check on her welfare. Louise and Ben quickly dismounted the appliance and ran to her aid. They mounted the barrier on either side of her and prevented her from moving whilst comforting her and talking her down from her distress. During this time the police and ambulance were requested.
The incident came to a safe conclusion with the woman encouraged to move back to the safe side of the bridge. She was then taken by police car to Hanley Police and Fire station to see the on-duty mental health nurse.
Rob Barber said: “Our team did the right thing under very testing conditions and this truly shows what great people we have working in our emergency services.”
Ben said: “There’s no other job like being a firefighter. I get huge job satisfaction from what I do. I have wanted to be a firefighter since I was aged four and I’ve never really thought about having any other job since then. Every day is different and it’s fantastic to be working with Louise and the rest of the team.
“On that day back in November we were on our way back from a call out to a car fire on the M6. Sometimes you get an uneasy feeling and instinct when you see something and so when I saw the lady I thought that it didn’t seem quite right. I had a horrible feeling about what could happen.
“It’s then when your training kicks in as you don’t have a lot of time to think about what you will do or say and to build up trust. Me and Louise managed to get either side of her and spoke to her calmly until the situation reached a positive conclusion.”