Kent and Canterbury porters win global award after intervening to save a patient’s life

Two porters at Kent and Canterbury Hospital have been recognised by Serco with a global award after they calmly and compassionately persuaded a patient threatening to end her life to come safely down from a rooftop.

On their way home after a long shift at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, porters Ashley Hopkins and Kyle Moore, 20 and 24, averted a potentially disastrous situation through their professionalism and initiative.

As they left the hospital Ashley and Kyle spotted a female patient run past them, dressed in a hospital gown, and climb onto a nearby garage roof. They followed her but were careful not to further alarm the patient, who was clearly in a distressed state.

The empathy and understanding Kyle and Ashley were able to show the patient at this point were critical as the patient was threatening to end her life. For 45 minutes, they kept the patient talking, calming her in the process, before eventually persuading her to come down from the rooftop and be safely escorted back to the hospital.

Kyle and Ashley’s colleague Kevin Wanstall, who nominated them for the award, said: “Kyle and Ashley’s quick thinking and compassion for this vulnerable patient may well have made the difference between life and death. They bring the same caring approach to their work every day so I am really pleased to see them recognised with this award.”    

Kyle and Ashley were presented with their award by Serco Chief Executive Rupert Soames and Chairman Sir Roy Gardner at an event in Birmingham marking the company’s UK winners of its Global Pulse Awards. The awards celebrate employees from among Serco’s 50,000 strong team around the world who have done extraordinary things for their colleagues, customers or communities.

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