2 young girls from Ryde have been recognised for their bravery at this year’s Isle of Wight District Commander’s Awards after a fire ripped through their family home back in 2020, leaving their mum badly injured.
At a special ceremony in Newport, awards were given out to police officers, police staff and members of the public for their outstanding actions, and for going above and beyond to protect the public on the Isle of Wight.
Superintendent Rob Mitchell, who hosted the annual event at the Newport Congregational Church last Wednesday (26th April), welcomed a number of special guests, including Chief Constable Scott Chilton and High Sheriff Dawn Haig-Thomas.
Attendees heard of the bravery and dedication of not only police officers and staff from Hampshire Constabulary working on the Island, but of selfless members of the public who came to the aid of others in their time of need. This included the actions of youngsters Caitlin and Alice John.
At just before 07:00 on 13th August 2020, a fire broke out on the 1st floor of a property on Swanmore Road in Ryde. Inside the address were Sian John and her 2 children, Caitlin, aged 12 at the time, and Alice, then aged 9.
After shouting for her children to get themselves and the family dog safely out of their home, Sian began to battle the fire with bowls of water but soon became overpowered by the smoke and flames. Within minutes 42-year-old Sian collapsed and is thought to have lost consciousness.
Worried that her mum had not yet exited the property, Caitlin went back into the house and pulled Sian to safety. The 2 girls then both tended to Sian while they awaited the arrival of the emergency services.
25 firefighters from 3 different stations battled the flames, with paramedics from the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service checking over the John family. The family dog was left startled, but otherwise uninjured.
Although the swift actions of the fire service saved the adjoining house, the John’s property was extremely damaged and was not habitable for a number of months.
Sian suffered serious burn injuries and was taken to Salisbury Hospital where she remained for a number of weeks. The girls escaped injury and were discharged after being taken to hospital.
Last week’s awards ceremony heard that Caitlin demonstrated leadership beyond her years towards her younger sister, giving her instruction to stay calm and to keep herself and the dog safe. It was noted that Alice acted bravely by listening to her older sister, by taking instruction from her and not risking her own safety when she feared the worst.
Caitlin’s brave actions saved her mother’s life that day.
In recognition of their actions, Caitlin was presented with a certificate from the Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, and Alice was presented with a Letter of Commendation from the society.
Speaking at the ceremony, Superintendent Rob Mitchell said:
“Today is a chance for me to bring together our officers and staff who have conducted exceptional policing through the year. Quite often the work they do they see as business as usual, but it’s not. They’ve safeguarded vulnerable people, caught criminals, and they’ve got justice for victims.
“We don’t always hear that being celebrated or talked about, and this is a chance to bring everyone together with their family and friends, and actually recognise when they’ve gone the extra mile.
“Ultimately we’re very lucky on the Isle of Wight, we have an awful lot of officers who are committed. They work tirelessly during the weekends, during public holidays, and they give up birthdays in order to go the extra mile to keep the public safe.
“Tonight in the company of the Chief Constable and our new High Sheriff it was great to hear some fantastic stories about bravery, about endurance in pursuing outcomes for vulnerable people, whether it’s anti-social behaviour or protecting them from crime, and even this evening as well we had a couple of young girls who saved their mother from a burning building”.
Well done girls! What hero’s you are!
What a brave pair of girls. Well done you two.