TWO NEW Forest fire fighters who saved a woman from drowning after her car was swept away by floods last Christmas have been awarded a prestigious bravery honour.
Leading fire fighter Colin Coley and fire fighter Paul Dorrington waded through chest deep water to rescue the drowning woman who was trapped in undergrowth after scrambling out of the submerged Range Rover.
The retained fire-fighters, based at Fordingbridge, have already received a chief fire officer's commendation for their heroism in the Christmas Eve drama, which unfolded at Ibsley when torrential rain turned a stream into a raging torrent.
While colleagues helped driver Tim Metcalf and his 75-year-old mother to safety from their precarious perch on the roof of the car, L/f Coley and F/f Dorrington braved the fast-flowing icy water to reach Mr Metcalf's fiance Linda Wallgreen-Jones, who had been carried downstream by the torrent.
Now the pair have been awarded certificates of honour by the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
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