Inverness Coastguards receive Brave@Heart award from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
Two Inverness Coatguards have been awarded for their bravery by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, at the Brave@Heart awards.
Josh Williams and Craig Thomson, members of the duty HM Coastguard SAR helicopter crew at Inverness, scrambled to reports of a missing walker in the vicinity of Huntly. The female walker, suffering from a neurological disorder, had reported herself lost by phone and had fallen over and was now unable to get to her feet.
The aircraft was unable to winch the casualty due to the potential of further injury to her. So, with selfless inconsideration for personal safety, Williams came off the winch wire in the bog to help. Williams and Thomson both then managed to carefully extract the casualty physically from the bog, and lifted her to safer ground. Thomson then guided the pilot to conduct a safe winch of the casualty.
The Brave@Heart award recognises acts of bravery and heroism across Scotland with nominations made by the emergency services and winners selected by an independent validation panel. As well as Williams and Thomson, twelve other emergency response workers and two members of the public were presented with a Brave@Heart Award by the First Minister.
Speaking after the award ceremony at Bute House, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:“Presenting these awards is an honour for me and I’m extremely happy to able to recognise those who put their lives at risk to save others in person once again.
“Each and every one of the recipients here tonight went above and beyond the call of duty, showing astounding courage and quick thinking to prevent incidents in extraordinary circumstances. They are inspiring and an example to the whole of Scotland.”
Phil Jones, chair of the Brave@Heart 2022 validation panel, said:“The Brave@Heart award winners represent the very best of Scotland. Their heroic acts have protected others who have often been in desperate and perilous situations.
“These winners also remind us that thousands of people in Scotland are working to protect others every day. It’s so important that their contributions are celebrated because they set an example to us all.”
This year winners include staff from HM Coast Guard, Scottish Ambulance Service and Police Scotland for acts as wide ranging as dealing with violent attackers, life-saving actions in challenging search and rescue conditions and assisting during an explosion and building collapse.
Members of the public who won the award were: six-year-old Benji who phoned an ambulance for his mum during an emergency, and Scott MacQuarrie who helped get members of the public to safety after driving their car onto tram tracks before making contact with an oncoming tram driver to prevent a collision and avoid a more serious incident.
PC Glenn Coletta was also presented with two St Andrew’s Awards for exceptional acts of bravery on behalf of himself and his colleague PC Josh McCorry – both men were left severely injured after being attacked by a man with a meat cleaver but managed to prevent him from injuring anyone else.
