Celebrating a night of heroes

We were back at Pride Park Stadium on Wednesday night (3 November) for our Celebrating Achievement Awards, for the first time in two years. Here we report on a night of celebration, fundraising and real-life stories.

Brothers Nick and Tim Clarke who saved a child's life were among dozens of police officers, staff and members of the public praised for their actions.

Nick was around his brother Tim's house on a day in February last year, doing some roof repairs, when he heard cries for help. He dashed down and found a distraught woman, on her knees cradling her baby covered in blood. Nick rang for an ambulance and Tim took the child into his home comforting and tending to her very severe injuries. Police and ambulance services attended the scene very quickly including air ambulance to care for the child who'd been attacked by a dog.

Nick and Tim (pictured) were given their awards by Chief Constable Rachel Swann who praised their heroic actions.

Staff and officers were also recognised for 20 and 40-years’ service, and commendations were handed out for acts of bravery by officers and staff.

Crime scene investigator Alexis Stubbs (pictured) was commended for turning up at a crime scene in Buxton to find a man self-harming. It was a report of a burglary that led to her being there, but it didn't turn out like she expected, far from it.

There so happened to be a man with a knife, using it to stab himself. She disarmed him, only for him to grab a pair of scissors and continue to try and self-harm. Alexis disarmed him again and called force control, who sent officers to the house while an ambulance was dispatched.

This was quite extraordinary bravery on Alexis's part, with no training or protective body armour. Once he was taken to hospital, she resumed her role and forensically examined the scene.

Constable Amanda Burden (pictured) received a national bravery award from the Royal Humane Society. She could easily have been injured herself in the incident but she put that to one side to help someone in need. Picture this, she finds a woman, emotionally unstable, intoxicated and had just been violent, balancing precariously from a third-floor window, and pulls her up and to safety. Amanda said: "She was literally hanging onto the window ledge by her fingertips."

Also commended for outstanding bravery was Constable Andrew Marshall (pictured), the first responder at a flat fire on 12 September last year, following reports that people were trapped inside. He knew that he could not wait for the fire service to arrive and entered the property, removing a man from the hallway. He climbed to the first floor and discovered a second man, who he got to safety.

He was now directly outside the flat on fire and made the decision to enter, but was beaten back by smoke and heat. He tried again, with the same result. Now suffering from the effects of the smoke, he made his way outside, continuing to support Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service and other services.

There were awards for Police Community Support Officer Meikel Miller who'd joined a member of the public Lewis Allsop (pictured) after being waved down to help when a woman was about to jump off a bridge over the A38. Lewis had stopped and put himself in harm’s way by pulling her back and restraining her before help arrived. They were praised for their amazing composure and courage.

Detective Sergeant Steve Judge (pictured) took home a total of three awards for his work protecting children from abuse and solving a serious crime committed more than 30 years earlier thanks to DNA evidence.

It was September 1985 when a woman was attacked in Heanor, after getting off a bus and walking home from work. DNA taken at the time led us to find the man responsible for this night-time stranger attack. In May 2019 he was jailed for 14 years and three months.

On the night we also raised £440 to be shared between the Thin Blue Paw Foundation and Neuroblastoma UK.