Stourbridge joggers honoured after saving mum and baby from drowning in canal
Two joggers who saved a mother and her eight-week old baby from drowning in a horror incident at a canal in Stourbridge have been awarded top life-saving honours.
The incident happened at the canal near Aurora Gardens, Wollaston, on the afternoon of March 17 this year.
The mother was pushing her baby, who was strapped into her pushchair, along the canal towpath when she suddenly experienced severe shooting pains as a result of her baby’s recent birth by caesarean section.
The pain overwhelmed her, she passed out and then fell in the canal with the baby and pushchair.
Thankfully Max Murphy, who lives in Stourbridge, and Susan Westwood, of Hagley, were out running on the towpath and saw what happened.
They ran to the canal edge and Susan jumped into the canal fully clothed.
She grabbed the pushchair with the baby still in it and was able to hand it to Max on the bank.
Then together the pair of them got hold of the mother and dragged her back to the bank and safety.
Others who had arrived at the scene had already alerted the emergency services and Max and Susan waited with the mother and baby until they arrived. Both survived the ordeal.
Now Susan has been awarded a Royal Humane Society Testimonial on Parchment and Max is to receive a Certificate of Commendation from the Society.
Praising their actions as he announced the awards at the Society’s London headquarters, Andrew Chapman, secretary of the Society said: "They were certainly the right people in the right place at the right time and managed to save mother and baby from almost certainly drowning.
"By luck they were on the spot when the incident happened and acted instantly. If they had not the outcome of this could have been very different.
"They did a wonderful job and richly deserve the awards they are to receive."
