Richmond police bridge rescue: Officer hailed as hero after rescuing a woman who jumped from south London bridge

PC Fab Ahmed rushed to grab the woman as she fell from a bridge in Kingston-upon-Thames

Police and firefighters came to the women's rescue when she was spotted sitting on the wrong side of the bridge ledge

A London police officer has been hailed a hero after he risked his life to save a woman mid-air as she jumped from a bridge in south London.

PC Fab Ahmed threw himself forward to grab hold of the woman as she tumbled from Kingston Bridge.

Police and firefighters were called to the bridge on the evening of 28 October after reports of a woman sitting on the wrong side of the ledge.

After a minute unsuccessfully trying to talk the woman down, PC Ahmed was radioing for back-up when she jumped.

He and a firefighter rushed forward to grab her by the shoulders but her weight pulled them off the ground and all three ended up hanging over the safety railings before being rescued by colleagues.

In a statement on the force's Facebook page, PC Ahmed said: "I hadn’t realised the height of the bridge as I looked down.

"Then, as we took more of her weight with our arms, both our legs went up in the air. My abdomen was on the ledge and because of the weight we were being pulled down as well.

"I just thought: ‘We need to save her.’ At the time the goal was just to save her – to get her over the side."

His commanding officer, Claire Moxon said she was "extremely proud" of the "immense courage and bravery" shown by her team that night.

She said: "If the officers and the fire fighters hadn’t taken the actions they did I am sure there would have been another very different ending to this event."

The police officer, who was been with Kingston Police since 2009, escaped with a minor injury to his arm as he pulled the women back onto the bridge.

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