A 'heroic' police officer has been commended for saving a man who intended to take his own life on the M40.

In a ceremony hosted by Thames Valley Police, Chief Constable Jason Hogg presented PC Henry Johnson with a commendation for his actions in connection with saving a man’s life on the motorway in Buckinghamshire. 

On the drive home from a 12-hour shift, PC Johnson saw a man stood the wrong side of the railings on the overbridge, and was intent on taking his own life.

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After reporting the incident and requesting support, PC Johnson headed down to assist the man.

Faced with poor weather conditions and fairly heavy rush hour traffic, including heavy goods vehicles, PC Johnson took hold of the man and pulled him to safety on the hard shoulder as far away as he could from the live lanes, in doing so putting himself at great risk.

PC Johnson remained with the man whilst providing clear and concise updates which enabled all the emergency services to send the appropriate resources to the right place.

The man was then taken to hospital where he recovered.

PC Johnson said: “I am grateful for the award and wish to thank all the other units that came down to assist that night.

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"I also want to thank my friends, family and team for supporting me afterwards.”

Inspector Jason Liles nominated PC Johnson for the award and said: “PC Johnson’s actions were incredibly brave and he undoubtedly saved this man’s life. 

"I have no doubt that without his actions, it’s almost certain that this male would have been struck by a vehicle and his family would have lost him on this day.”