A COLCHESTER police officer who saved a girl’s life by breaking her fall when she fell from an A12 bridge has received the Essex Police’s top honour. 

PC Sam Owen was one of several officers who responded to reports of a teenager standing on the edge of a bridge above the A12 in October last year. 

He sensed that the girl was about to fall and positioned himself on the road beneath so he could break it. 

He has been presented with a Merit Star, Essex Police’s highest honour of commendation, for his selfless actions. 

Honour - The Essex Police Merit Star on a police officer's uniformHonour - The Essex Police Merit Star on a police officer's uniform (Image: Essex Police)

The teenager’s mother said after the ceremony at Essex Police Headquarters in Chelmsford: “We were told by the air ambulance crew that if it hadn’t been for Sam, our daughter wouldn’t be here today. 

“We think of him every day. Sam never goes far from our minds at all. We look at her and think ‘you’ve come so far’ and think of Sam.” 

Presenting PC Owens with the Merit Star in front of the teenager and her family, Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington told him: “Every day in this great force, exceptional things are done and achieved. 

“But every now and then there is an act, carried out in the line of duty, that is beyond exceptional. 

“In those circumstances it is my great privilege and honour to bestow the Merit Star to PC Owen as Essex Police’s highest honour of commendation and recognition. 

“Yours was an act of bravery, courage and compassion that saved the life of a teenager in distress, without any thought for your own safety. 

“It was a truly remarkable and selfless act, Sam. Thank you.” 

PC Owens was humbled by the award and said it is a “massive honour” and “proud moment”. 

He recalls: “It happened so quickly – it was instinct. I remember driving up to the bridge with a colleague and saw the teenager standing in a precarious position. 

“My colleague went to help stop traffic and I went straight beneath the bridge because it felt to me as though it would be a matter of moments before she fell. 

“I was desperate to help and to try to save her. I had to take a few steps forward and lunge to get underneath her and try to catch her. My sole aim was to try to stop her head and the top half of her body from hitting the ground, to protect her vital organs. 

“We both fell to the ground, me with my arms underneath her, and stayed there until an ambulance, a fire crew and the air ambulance arrived. They were all great.”