Police Bravery Awards: officer tells how PPE, training and teamwork saved his life

13 June 2023

“Calling my wife at 5.30am and telling her I’d been stabbed was the hardest phone call I’ve ever had to make. And then telling the kids, and explaining to them that the bad man didn’t want to hurt Daddy, it was the uniform he wanted to hurt, now that was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.” 

When Nottinghamshire Police Federation members, sergeant Dan Griffin and student officer Amy Pannell stopped to search a pair of suspicious-looking males, little did they know the evening would take a dramatic turn for the worse, resulting in a serious knife attack. 

Dan was stabbed multiple times - taking one blow to the chest and three to the back of the leg - with the quick-thinking actions of Amy, along with his body armour and years of police training credited for saving his life that night.

The courageous duo have been nominated for this year’s national Police Bravery Awards and the Federation could not wait to catch up with the heroic officers ahead of the annual event.

“I still remember that night so, so vividly,” said 42-year-old father-of-two Dan. 

“The turn of events went from zero to off the scale in a matter of seconds. But it was when the offender pulled a knife out, that’s when I knew things had got really serious.”

It was Monday 25 April 2022. The two officers had volunteered to stay on overtime when they noticed a couple of men acting suspiciously.

 They stopped the two men to carry out a search, but one of them resisted and began making threats and being aggressive, before eventually pulling a knife out.

“Neither me nor him were backing down. I knew I needed to bide us some time, so other officers could come and support us,” added Dan, who then radioed for help and used his incapacitant spray to no effect. 

The attacker then chased after him, stabbing him three times in the back of the right leg.

“After being stabbed in the top of my leg, I stopped and faced him, which is when he drew a huge blow to my chest - and I mean, he gave it maximum power.  Thankfully, I can’t recall that blow to my chest,” continued Dan.

“It was only due to the knife striking my body armour that I’m here today. If I hadn’t been wearing my PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] it would have gone into my chest and I may have died.”

“Auto-pilot definitely kicks in and all of those years of training come into force.” 

Having been stabbed in the chest, Dan used his spray again, this time directly into the man’s eyes, which forced him to cover his face.

At this point, both he and Amy tackled the man to the floor but he continued to struggle violently.  

“I remember the first time Dan sprayed the attacker and it did nothing - it was like something out of a nightmare,” said 39-year-old student officer Amy, who was one year into her Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) at the time. 

“Instead of stopping, he turned and just stared at Dan, before running at him. I saw him stab him from behind and Dan arch his back in pain. I then saw all this blood running down Dan’s legs and onto the floor. 

“At this point, Dan and I detained him on the floor - while I’m also trying to apply pressure to Dan’s wounds at the same time. It was such a chaotic situation.” 

The pair managed to detain the offender until back-up arrived. 

Amy continued: “Poor Dan, he was in agony, it was just awful. I just knelt down and held his hands. I just told him to squeeze my hands through the pain. He’s not just a colleague but he is a friend too - and we were a team that night, I would never have left him. 

“Either one of us could’ve got attacked, it could’ve easily been me. The whole experience was terrifying.”

Dan was taken to hospital where he received 21 stitches to his wounds. He was off work for four months following the attack.  

“I have to admit, I did think about whether I wanted to go back to the job or not,” said Dan. 

“But then I quickly realised I wasn’t going to let one person ruin a career I’ve worked so hard for.  I have been supported throughout my recovery by Nottinghamshire Police and the Federation for which I am grateful.” 

Dan said that the bond he and Amy have got is strong. He added: “Whenever I’m on shift with a student officer, I really like to show them what neighbourhood policing really is. Little did I know how that evening would end. 

“Amy has been there for me all the way through this, and I’ll never forget that.”

While Dan’s injuries have healed, he says both the physical and emotional pain remains.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was tell my kids what had happened. You kiss your wife and kids goodbye, say I love you and head into work, but you never expect not to come home as usual,” he explained.

“I had to reassure the kids that the attacker wasn’t wanting to hurt me, they wanted to hurt the uniform. If anything though, I hope that what happened has shown them that their dad has come out stronger than ever.”

Following the event, Amy recalls how she went home and made a cup of tea as usual, only for the reality of what had happened to kick in at around 5am that morning, when she burst into tears.

“What happened that night has definitely changed me and it’s taking a long time for me to work out a way to deal with such trauma.

“I can’t help but look at my kids when I go to work and wonder what job I’ll be called to that day. But that doesn’t change the fact that joining the Force was the best decision I’ve made and I am still so proud to be a police officer.” 

Both officers admit that they feel honoured to have been nominated for a national Police Bravery Award.

Amy said: “I don’t consider myself as a brave person, I think of myself as someone who simply stood by their friend, their colleague. And I think any of my colleagues would have done the same.”

Dan added: “I was very honoured and taken aback to hear about the nomination. And for us to be the chosen nomination by Nottinghamshire Police, now that really is something special.”

The annual Police Bravery Awards are organised by the Police Federation of England and Wales, with this year’s event taking place on Thursday 13 July.