Brave PC to be honoured at national awards ceremony

8 July 2022

Nottinghamshire PC Nick Lewis will be honoured at the National Police Bravery Awards in London next week, after he showed outstanding bravery at two separate incidents.

In the first incident, a 12-year-old girl presented herself to staff at a supermarket in Nottingham stating that she did not want to return home after a family fall-out. 

Staff tried to stay with her until police officers arrived but she ran away. The girl was spotted at a busy junction and PC Lewis, single crewed at the time, tried to catch up with her.

She jumped into the River Trent, at a point where it is wide and fast-flowing with dangerous undercurrents.

Without hesitation, he took off his stab vest and equipment belt and jumped into the river after the girl who was struggling to keep her head above the water, due to the thick and woollen clothing that she was wearing.

PC Nick Lewis

PC Lewis swam out to her and due to the amount of weight the water sodden clothes had taken on, had to battle and swim hard to ensure they both returned to the side of the river.  

PC Lewis did not stop attending to the child until she was out of the water on the bank and in the care of colleagues who had arrived at the scene.

Only after he had completed the rescue did PC Lewis make an assessment of his own health and wellbeing.

His actions undoubtedly saved the life of the young girl.

In the second incident, a woman was seen to jump off a bridge and into the centre of the River Trent, in an attempt to take her own life.

PC Lewis, who was tutoring a very young in-service colleague, arrived on the scene just as she jumped into the river.

Using his previous experience of open water swimming, he managed to prevent the woman from going under the water but experienced some resistance from her as she tried to kick away from him to continue to go under the water.  

This made the rescue more hazardous for PC Lewis to keep them both afloat. The combination of his personal strength and his calming words towards to the female, prevented the situation from becoming worse.

Simon Riley, chair of Nottinghamshire Police Federation, said: “PC Lewis acted without any second thought or hesitation twice in the space of two months, in order to save the lives of two people.  Nick showed huge personal bravery in entering the water, without any thought for his own safety on both of these occasions in order to effect the rescue of two females in difficulty, in what is an extremely dangerous stretch of the River Trent.  Without his selfless actions and bravery, both would have undoubtedly drowned.” 

The Police Bravery Awards are organised by the Police Federation of England and Wales and will take place in London on 14 July. The annual awards honour some of the finest officers in England and Wales who have performed incredible acts of bravery, while on or off duty.

Winners of the eight regional awards will go forward for the overall national award.