A QUICK-THINKING policeman saved a woman's life when he grabbed her wrists to stop her falling from a fourth floor balcony.
PC Stephen Sussex was called to the scene, at Webb Court in the South Acton Estate, after reports of someone trying to commit suicide.
The 34-year-old officer arrived last Tuesday afternoon with PC Jenny Small. He said: "She was on the outside of the railings clinging on to them. As we came out of the lift our view was obscured by members of the public. When they moved out of the way we were right on top of her so I grabbed her wrists.
"My colleague and I then took a wrist each and at that point the woman swung her legs away from the railings so she was hanging by them.
"If we had let go she would have fallen to her death. She wasn't heavy but I couldn't just pull
her up because her hands would've got stuck under the railings."
At that point two more officers arrived and were able to help lift the woman out of danger.
She was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital.
PC Sussex, of Uxbridge, added: I had to make the decision. I was worried our presence might scare her. I didn't know what was going through her mind.
"In the end it was instinct to grab her; I didn't have time to think. It was a team effort.
"We all worked together to make sure it was a happy ending."
