Who will be 2015’s Local Hero? Vote now!

The shortlist this year is made up of men from Hull, Great Hatfield and Withernsea with three very different tales of bravery and selflessness.

​The Local Hero Award is given to a member of the public who has put the safety of others before themselves. The winner will be announced at the Humberside Fire are Rescue Service Community Awards Ceremony on Thursday 24 September, 2015.

Katrina Goodhand, Partnerships Officer for Humberside Fire & Rescue Service, said:

‘At the Service we could not do our job without the help of the public. When people put themselves in danger to help others, we feel they deserve special recognition. We have so few opportunities to show our gratitude, but the Community Awards ceremony gives an ideal opportunity for the Service, partner organisations and sponsors to reward and recognise the heroes who walk among us.

The local hero award is decided by public vote. It would be too difficult for the Service to decide who would be the most worthy of being called the ‘2015 Local Hero’ because they are all heroes to us and are all already winners for being nominated and shortlisted for this award’.

Previous winners have included a taxi driver who rescued a girl from drowning when her car went into a pond and a lady who doused the flames of a young person who was on fire.

To vote for the 2015 Humberside Fire & Rescue Service Local Hero, simply choose who you think should win:

You can text ’RAY’, ‘PAUL’ ‘or ‘DAVID’ to 07581 495960

You can leave a voice message on the above number and simply state ’RAY’, ‘PAUL’ ‘or ‘DAVID’

You can email ’RAY’, ‘PAUL’ ‘or ‘DAVID’ to localhero@humbersidefire.gov.uk

Multiple votes from the same mobile phone, landline or email address will not be counted.

Or you can write you to:

Local Hero
Humberside Fire & Rescue Service
Service Headquarters
Summergroves Way
HULL
HU4 7BB

Hurry, the closing date for votes is midnight on Sunday 30 August

This year’s shortlisted nominees for the Local Hero Award are:

RAY THOMPSON

Ray and his wife Sandra run the Wrygarth Inn in Great Hatfield near Hornsea. In November 2014, a 999 operator rang Sandra at 11.15pm to say that a lady had fallen into a nearby dyke and was unsure of her exact location, but could see the lights of the pub. The emergency services had been searching for two hours without success.

Ray set off in his car in the pitch black and stopped in a lay-by and shouted. When he heard a faint cry for help, he searched for a safe place to cross the dyke armed only with a torch and set off across the field. Despite the cold and his bad back, Ray located the woman who was climbing out of the dyke. She was drenched, in shock and, in Ray’s opinion, hypothermic. He swapped jackets with her and led her shivering and screaming back to his car and drove her back to the relative safety of the pub to meet the paramedic and ambulance crew.

Ray’s back problems have unfortunately worsened. In March this year, he had two vertebrae removed and is now undergoing chemotherapy for a tumour running through his spine. His selfless act in the dark that night certainly speeded up the rescue and prevented the outcome being any worse.

PAUL FISHER

Paul is an ex-Firefighter from Withernsea who saved a surfer who was unconscious in the sea after coming off his board in March 2015.

Paul was out walking along the sea front when he noticed the man face down in the water. With disregard for his own safety, Paul ran down the steps onto the beach, entered the water and pulled the surfer onto the sand and administered CPR until the arrival of paramedics.

The casualty was revived and taken to hospital via ambulance where he made almost a full recovery. The surfer still suffers from a slight weakness down his left arm, but without Paul’s awareness and quick thinking, the consequences could have been so much worse.

DAVID HAYES

David was nominated by Bransholme Fire Station Green Watch for his quick thinking and selfless actions which put his own safety in jeopardy and saved a member of his community.

David rescued an elderly resident from a well developed house fire. Having made several attempts to break down the front door to no avail, David then smashed the front windows to try and gain access. This action ventilated the property allowing enough smoke to clear to enable the resident to be able to make his way to the door which then enabled David to rescue him from the property.

If David had not smashed the window to ventilate the property, the resident could quite possibly have been overcome by the smoke and been killed inside his home.