Hero officer injured while saving 103-year-old woman

A carer had raised concerns for the elderly woman who had not been answering her door.

The young policeman raced to the woman’s aid and, though able to hear ‘faint groaning’ within her home, he had to break glass to gain entry to the house.

The officer was praised by colleagues on Craigavon PSNI Facebook page who were sent a photograph of the young officer’s injuries.

“The story behind it is fairly typical of our work, and a great bit of selfless policing,” said the post.

“On Sunday afternoon a carer rang us to say that the 103-year-old lady he visits was not answering the door, and he couldn’t hear movement inside. We get these calls a lot and, unfortunately, some turn out to be sudden deaths. Others result in us finding someone who is fallen or is in medical difficulty.

“One of our newbies raced to the scene and, despite not being trained in “method of entry” and therefore not having any of our gucci gear with them, they knew they had to get in, and fast.

“He could hear faint groaning coming from inside so knew something wasn’t right.

“In an absence of things lying around, and with an almost fully glass door it was either cut his leg or cut his arm. He chose arm.

“Thankfully, the lady was OK. She had fallen several hours earlier so our guys, and paramedics, were able to get her checked over. A remarkably resilient lady.

“Our newbie however needed several stitches to a couple of wounds on his forearm and wrist. His hand is doing a weird twitchy nerve thing which is freaking him out a bit, but he’ll be OK.

“When I asked him was there nothing else he could have done he shrugged and said, “I knew she was in there and I knew I had to get in, fast.”

“I’ll be buying that lad a pint next time we’re out,” said the PSNI Craigavon post.

“A big shout out to one of our colleagues who gave initial first aid, our colleagues in Northern Ireland Ambulance Service who got him patched up at the scene, and the ever caring and attentive NHS staff who got him sewn back together. “His only complaint was that he didn’t get one of those “I’ve been a brave boy” stickers.

“This is also a timely reminder to look after your friends, relatives and neighbours. Look out for each other!”