Security operative saves suicidal man on Great Yarmouth beach
October 18, 2020
A security operative at the former Great Yarmouth Marina Centre saved the life of a suicidal man who stabbed himself in the neck before running into the North Sea.
Christopher Church, 37, of Lowestoft, was patrolling the construction site on the night of 20 September when two passers-by alerted him to a man with a stab wound to his neck. He spotted the man and called out to him as he ran towards the beach. Christopher shone his torch light and saw him running into the sea. Immediately, he went after him.
Christopher is an SIA licensed door supervisor. He is being featured in our #SIAHeroes​ campaign because of his life saving actions. The campaign highlights the efforts that security operatives are making to serve their communities across the UK and most recently, during the COVID-19 crisis.
Christopher realised that the man was attempting suicide, and persuaded him to walk out of the sea. He was still holding the blade, but Christopher managed to keep him calm and give him life-saving first aid. At this point a passer-by came over and called the emergency services. Christopher stayed with the man until he was taken to hospital.
When we spoke to Christopher, he said:
“I tried to calm the man down. He was in an agitated state, but I successfully convinced him that I was there to help him. The whole thing was pretty terrifying. As he made his way towards me I could see that there was a lot of blood, which was pouring from his neck wound.
When he came out of the sea I took hold of him, laid him down on the beach, and put direct pressure onto the wound. I held his head and neck with one hand, and applied pressure to the wound with the other. I kept talking to him to keep him conscious.”
The emergency services arrived at about 10.30pm, removed the man’s wet clothes, and wrapped him in a thermal blanket. He was put onto a stretcher and taken to the ambulance while he held Christopher’s hand.
Christopher added:
“He kept thanking me and telling me I’d saved his life. The patient is still in hospital and is now in a stable condition. You can't really prepare for these things until they hit you, but I knew what I was doing because of my first aid training.”
After the incident Chris went back to work until his shift ended at six the following morning.
Chris is qualified in Emergency First Aid at Work, and is an HM Coastguard on-call volunteer.