Man from Farnsfield commended by Nottinghamshire Police and given award at Mansfield Town Football Club for saving woman's life

A selfless Farnsfield man has been commended by Nottinghamshire Police after saving a distressed woman’s life last year.

Mr John Mawby, 42, was given the commendation at the force’s awards evening at Mansfield Town Football Club.

The incident happened in September 2018, when Mr Mawby was returning to his car in carpark on Maid Marion Way, Nottingham, after a meeting.

He noticed a woman in her early twenties sitting on the edge of a wall with one of her legs dangling over the side.

Mr Mawby said: “I had just finished a work meeting and came back to my car and put my briefcase in the boot, and saw the girl.

“She was looking over at me and glancing away, so I knew that something wasn’t right and she needed help. I was concerned and I knew I had to go over there and try to help her.

“She was scared and had one leg over the barrier.”

Mr Mawby approached her from distance and started to engage with her, leaning her name and establishing her trust.

“I managed to talk to her, just random things,” he said, “I saw she had some nice trainers on, so just talking to her about sport design and tried to keep that conversation going to build up a relationship.”

After a half an hour, the girl put both her legs over the barrier and Mr Mawby had to think fast, because he was scared she would over-balance and fall.

Luckily, Nottinghamshire Police officers arrived on the scene and Mr Mawby helped an officer to encourage her to return to safety after an hour and a half of talking to her.

Mr Mawby said: “It was obviously a long time in that position, but I kept calm and thankfully it was all resolved safely.”

Although he wasn’t aware at the time, the girl’s parents were on the ground below during the incident.

When he received the call to tell him he had been nominated for the commendation, Mr Mawby was told that her parents couldn’t thank him enough.

Chief Superintendent Rob Griffin said: “The whole incident took 90 minutes and, despite the woman continually telling you she didn’t want you there, you stayed and remained courteous and polite.

“You are commended for your courage and public spirited actions in saving Rebecca’s life.”

Mr Mawby said: “I’m very proud, as are my friends and family.

“I am just a normal guy and I didn’t do it for the praise, I did it because it was the right thing to .

“My outlook is, treat others as you would like to be treated and I would like to think if anyone was in that position, people would stop and help. It happened to me there in that carpark at that time and I’m glad I helped her.”

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