Two Telford heroes given national awards for life-saving efforts
Two Telford heroes – one who risked his own life to prevent a suicidal man jumping to his death and one who resuscitated a baby whose heart had stopped – have been awarded national life-saving honours.
Rhys Llewellyn and PC Mark Bates have both been handed awards for their acts of bravery and selflessness from the Royal Humane Society and received personal praise from Andrew Chapman – the society's secretary.
Mr Llewellyn risked his own life to prevent a suicidal man from jumping from a bridge by throwing his arms around him and eventually talking him down.
The incident took place late evening on July 31 this year on a footbridge.
Mr Llewellyn was at a nearby house at the time when he heard what he thought was laughter, but when he looked out he saw a man on the bridge, preparing to let go of the railings.
He immediately called police and ran straight to the man, leaned over the railings and grabbed him – despite him being heavier than Rhys – to prevent him from falling.
Police said later they believed if the man had jumped when Mr Llewellyn was clinging to him, he would also have been pulled off the bridge.
Mr Llewellyn is to receive a Royal Humane Society Testimonial on vellum for his bravery in putting his own life at risk and for talking the man out of his suicide bid.
PC Mark Bates managed to resuscitate a five-week-old baby boy whose heart had stopped, but tragically the baby died in hospital eight days later.
The incident happened in the early hours of the morning on December 29, 2022, when PC Bates and a colleague rushed to the scene to find the father trying to revive the baby.
PC Bates took over and began administering cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and succeeded in resuscitating the baby who was then taken to hospital where he remained on life support for eight days before dying.
However, those days gave the family an opportunity to be with him and to have him christened.
PC Bates has been awarded a Resuscitation Certificate by the Society for succeeding in giving the baby eight extra days of life.
Commenting on these acts of bravery, Mr Chapman said: “These were two terrible incidents and Rhys and PC Bates both acted magnificently.
“Rhys undoubtedly put his life on the line in his battle to stop the man falling and at the same time calming him down and talking him in to abandoning his plan to jump from the bridge.
“And PC Bates did all he could for the baby and succeeded in ensuring that it was in the best possible condition to give it a chance of survival when it was handed over to the medics.
"Sadly the baby died in the end but no-one could have done more for it immediately after its heart stopped than PC Bates did.
“Both these awards are richly deserved.”
The Royal Humane Society was founded in 1774 by two eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan. Their primary motive was to promote techniques of resuscitation.
However, as it emerged that numerous people were prepared to put their own lives at risk to save others, the awards scheme evolved, and today a variety of awards are made depending on the bravery involved.
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