Awards for police officers who helped save lives of stabbed paramedics
A pair of police officers who helped save the lives of two paramedics after they were stabbed by a man they were trying to help have been recognised with awards.
PC Victoria Gaunt and PC Michael Edge of West Midlands Police were given Blue Light Commendations by Chief Executive Anthony Marsh of West Midlands Ambulance Service.
The pair were first on the scene when paramedics Deena Evans and Mick Hipgrave were stabbed in July last year while attending a house call.
Martyn Smith, age 53, was jailed for nine years after admitting two charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Ms Evans, from Willenhall, was stabbed once in the chest, while fellow medic Mr Hipgrave, from Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, was knifed in the back trying to shield his colleague during a 12-second attack at a maisonette in Stephens Close, Wolverhampton.
The medics had been called to the property, along with police, to carry out a concern-for-welfare check on Smith, the sole occupant, after the alarm was raised by his mother, who was also present.
At the ceremony at WMAS headquarters this month, PCs Gaunt and Edge were accompanied by their partners and also met up with Ms Evans and Mr Hipgrave at the ceremony.
Ms Evans said: “It was great to see them again. We are both so grateful that they were with us on that day. If they hadn’t been, the outcome could have been a lot different. As well as being there when we needed them most, they were both so good with us after the stabbing providing reassurance and helping us get through it.”
Trust chief executive, Anthony Marsh, added: "Although I met Victoria and Michael not long after the incident, it was a real privilege to be able to recognise them formally for their swift actions which helped to save Mick and Deena.
"They undoubtedly put their own lives on the line to save their blue light colleagues, something I will forever be grateful for. I am also grateful that the footage captured on their body worn cameras played a key role in gaining an admission of guilt from Smith which spared everyone having to go through a trial."
