Schoolgirls who rescued elderly man kicked in the River Mersey nominated for national bravery award

The two teenage girls who rescued an elderly man after he was kicked into the River Mersey have been nominated for a national award for their bravery. 

Back in April, Khloe Woods and Ellie Hughes rushed to the assistance of seventy-four-year-old Gordon Bradbury , who had fallen into the river after being kicked by eighteen year old Benjamin Bridgeman and a fifteen year old boy who hasn’t been named for legal reasons.

Describing the incident at the time, Khloe told ITV News: “We were walking past and we heard these people going, ‘help, there’s a man there’, so me and Ellie quickly saw him and just dropped our stuff and went and quickly helped him and pulled him out of the river.

“He was in a bad state. He was hanging on to a branch, he had hold of my hand and he was saying ‘can you help me?’ I asked him if he wanted any help but he said no for an ambulance so we just helped him out and cleaned him up and all the blood off his face.”

And now, five months on from the attack, the two girls have been shortlisted in the Young Hero category of the Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons 2021. Their description of the girls’ bravery reads: “Friends Khloe Woods and Ellie Hughes rescued a seventy-four-year-old angler from the River Mersey in Warrington, Cheshire, after youths had violently pushed him into the freezing water.

“The girls heard the man’s cries for help just seconds after seeing two boys running away. Ellie stood firm on the bank and held Khloe’s hand while she reached out to drag the man, who was suffering a bloodied nose and was clinging onto an over-hanging branch, clear of the water. The man said afterwards he was stricken with fear of either drowning or having a heart attack in the freezing flowing river.”

BBC presenter Rachel Burden will host the awards, with Falklands war veteran Simon Weston being named as the guest of honour.

The winners will be announced during a virtual ceremony next Tuesday, October 5th.

In the days following the attack, Bridgeman and his accomplice were arrested and charged for the attack, with Bridgeman eventually been handed a ten-week prison sentence for his crime. 

The teen recorded a video apology after pleading guilty to assaulting the man. He was also approached coming out of Warrington Magistrates Court by ITV where he gave another apology, saying: “Obviously I’m very sorry and that, you know, it wasn’t supposed to happen. I didn’t realise he was seventy-four years old.

“Obviously everyone makes mistakes in life. Do you know what I mean? That’s the honest truth from the bottom of my heart.”