Officers honoured after saving a girl from drowning

TWO brave officers have been given an award from the Royal Humane Society after they waded into the sea off Shoeburyness to save a teenage girl from drowning.

Insp Paul Bates and PC Amber Jenkin (pictured) were called to the MOD barge pier in the evening of Thursday 20 November last year following reports that a girl had fallen into the sea.

PC Jenkin said: “When we arrived it was very dark and we couldn’t see anyone in the water.

She added: “There was a group of girls on the pier screaming that their friend had fallen in so we climbed over the sea wall and went out into the sea to find her. The water was freezing but we were concerned about the girl so we made our way to the end of the pier.”

The officers found the injured teenager on a ledge underneath the pier and stayed with her until the RNLI lifeboat arrived to taken them all back to shore.

Insp Bates said: “We could see the lifeboat heading towards us, which was a welcome sight as the tide was coming in quickly and we were all wet and cold. We had to keep the girl and her friends calm until it arrived and were grateful for the support of our colleagues who had by now arrived at the scene.”

The girl was left in the care of the ambulance service and thankfully only suffered minor injuries.

While the officers feel honoured that their actions have been recognised with this award they say they were just doing their job.

Insp Bates said: “It was a real surprise to be given this award. At the time we weren’t thinking about what would happen afterwards, we just wanted to find this girl and get her to safety.”