A truck driver who parked his vehicle under a motorway bridge to stop a man from jumping has denied being a hero.
Quick thinking Tom Birkett, 35, positioned his lorry underneath the ledge where the man was sat.
The mother of the man has since thanked him for his kindness.
But although Tom is happy to be called a ‘Good Samaritan’, he added: “All I did was park the truck under the bridge.”
He added: “I basically figured out something I could do, I did my good deed for the day. The police are the ones that saved him.
“I’m not the hero of this story, I’m happy with being called a Good Samaritan.”
Tom, a married father of three from Kendal, Cumbria, was driving his Mercedes along the eastbound M62 near Warrington when he spotted three people on the bridge and felt “something was not right”.
He noticed one person was on the wrong side of the bars and saw his legs dangling off the bridge.
The trucker moved his 44 tonne vehicle into the far left lane and put on his hazard lights to alert other road users.
Tom said: “I clocked him, I had seen something not right from a distance, obviously as a truck driver you’re looking way ahead of everyone else.
“I had seen three people on the bridge and I just knew something didn’t seem right. Something seemed off, the spacing of the people.
“As I was getting closer. I saw the person in the middle on the wrong side of the bars sat down with legs dangling on the motorway. The two police on the other side, that’s what I could see.
“I thought ‘I’m going to have to do something here, this lad’s going to jump off’.”
He added: “I don’t know what clicked in my head, but it suddenly dawned on me that I could help.
“I lined the truck up with the lad so the front of the trailer was underneath him.”
Tom’s actions earlier this month meant the drop from the edge was only around 10ft as opposed to 25ft.
“That was it, I walked up to the other side of the embankment and told the officers what I had done.
A short time later a negotiator arrived and thankfully the man was led to safety.
“I think what I did has been blown out of proportion. The police are the real heroes here” said Tom.
The man’s mother has let Tom know how grateful she is as she is convinced he saved her son, who had been struggling with his mental health but is now receiving help.
The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.
