Northside bridge man nominated for floods heroes award
Last updated at 11:48, Saturday, 23 January 2010
A brave man who stopped motorists crossing Workington’s Northside Bridge moments before it collapsed has been nominated as one of your floods heroes.
Brendan Pickering, 47, flagged down drivers to warn them of danger ahead after realising the bridge was about to fall.
His brave actions have earned him a nomination as an unsung community hero in the News & Star’s Heroes of the Floods Awards.
The father-of-three, of Burrow Walls, Northside, has been hailed a lifesaver after raising the alarm while out walking his dogs early on November 20.
Pamela Bain, of Mitchell Avenue, Northside, was one of those to put Mr Pickering’s name forward.
She said: “I have known Brendan Pickering nearly all his life. He has always been a really nice, hard-working lad.
“He deserves to be nominated as the unsung community hero because if he hadn’t been on the Northside road bridge at the time to stop any more traffic crossing, then phoning the police, there would have been a lot more fatalities.
“I think a lot of people owe their lives to Brendan.”
Another nomination read: “He was the person who alerted the emergency services.
“He single-handedly stopped numerous vehicles crossing the bridge, which would certainly have ended up with loss of life.
“All he was doing that morning was walking his dogs before heading off to work.”
Mr Pickering, a labourer with Balfour Beatty at Sellafield, was on the bridge, heading towards the Tesco supermarket, when the structure began to pitch and buck.
He said after the collapse: “I heard a loud whooshing and there was a big splash. A bit of the sandstone parapet was missing.”
What he initially thought was a puddle was the river running under a gap in the bridge.
Among the vehicles Mr Pickering stopped from the Maryport direction was a Ford Escort, telling the driver that if he went across “it would go in”.
He dialled 999 on his mobile phone – alerting emergency services to what was about to happen.
A van driver parked sideways at the southern end of the bridge to stop a bus and lorry from crossing that side.
Sadly, PC Bill Barker died as he worked to save lives after being washed away when the bridge collapsed.
Mr Pickering only heard of the tragedy when he returned to the bridge site later.
He was touched to learn he had been nominated for one of the News & Star Heroes of the Floods awards.
“I got a letter from [Workington MP] Tony Cunningham to say thanks,” Mr Pickering added. “I also got a letter off the guy in the silver car. That was touching. He has a five-year-old son and a two-year-old baby.”
We want you to continue nominating your heroes of the floods – those you believe should be honoured for their work in the wake of the floods that gripped places including Workington Cockermouth and Keswick.
The five awards categories are:
- Business champion, sponsored by Blue Fin Insurance.
- Emergency services, sponsored by Sellafield Limited.
- Good neighbour, sponsored by Sainsbury’s.
- Volunteers, sponsored by Tony Cunningham.
- Unsung community hero, sponsored by Judith Pattinson.
Marking your envelope Heroes of the Floods, post your nomination – stating which category it is for – to Newsdesk, News & Star, Newspaper House, Dalston Road, Carlisle, CA2 5UA or send them via this link. Please include contact details for your nominee.
The closing date for nominations is Monday, February 1.
Winners, chosen by our panel of judges, will be announced at a later date.
CStory@cngroup.co.uk
First published at 09:01, Saturday, 23 January 2010
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
