PC Christopher Bluck and PC Rhys Edwards

Police Constables Christopher Bluck and Rhys Edwards are response officers based in Bridgend, covering the counties of Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan. These officers deal with 999 incidents as well as day to day policing matters. They are usually the first on the scene following an emergency call.

The 2 officers risked their own safety to save the life of a woman who had set herself on fire and who was armed with a handgun.

Having been called to the scene in the early hours of the morning in March 2016, the 2 were given access to a property where they could see smoke coming from under a bedroom door which had been barricaded by furniture.

Without hesitation, they forced entry to the room where they discovered a woman sat among a pile of burning clothes and paper, with her clothing alight. More alarmingly, she was in possession of a firearm and was threatening to harm herself.

Without any time to consider whether or not the gun was real, the officers carried the woman to safety of the street, where they administered first aid and the fire service extinguished the rest of the fire.

The officers recovered the gun after the woman shot herself in the mouth twice. The gun was discovered to be a BB gun that fired metal ball bearings. The officers then drove the woman to the hospital where she was treated for her injuries and put into the care of the health services.