Heroes awarded bravery medals after horror explosion near Bristol destroyed five houses
Five heroes of the horror explosion near Bristol last April which destroyed five houses are to receive major national bravery awards for their fight to save the lives of three people who were trapped by the explosion and in danger of being burned alive.
Three of the award winners are to receive rarely awarded Royal Humane Society Silver Medals, one is to receive a Bronze Medal which again is a rarely awarded honour, and the fifth is to receive a Testimonial on Vellum.
The incident was caused by a huge gas explosion in Lancaster Road, Yate which destroyed the house it happened in and which resulted in four more properties needing to be demolished.
Robert Cainey, a former police officer was outside his home walking his dog when the explosion happened. His son, Richard, was in their house and was blown out of bed by the blast.
Richard then joined his father outside and when they heard screams from the house where the explosion occurred they ignored the danger to themselves and went into the burning building to rescue their two neighbours who were in the kitchen at the time of the explosion.
Kevin MacDonald was nearby at the time, rushed to the scene and ignoring the risk to himself of approaching a burning building smashed a window in a neighbouring property. Caralyn Jones and Luke Wood who had arrived at the scene then climbed through the window and went upstairs where they found an elderly woman trapped under her bed, freed her and carried her out of the house to safety.
Caralyn then went back in to try and find the woman’s dog but was unable to trace it. During the rescue she was burned and still carries scars from her injuries.
Now Robert Cainey, Caralyn Jones and Luke Wood are to receive Silver Medals. Richard Cainey is to receive a Bronze Medal and Kevin MacDonald is to receive a Testimonial on Vellum.
Adding his personal praise to the awards they are to receive, Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Royal Humane Society said: “It is impossible to praise them enough for what they did. They all ignored the imminent danger to themselves in their fight to save these three fire victims.
“Any one of them could have been seriously injured by the fire but their only thought was to save the people trapped. They were magnificent. They were the heroes of the day. These awards are not handed out lightly and only very few of the silver and bronze medals are awarded each year. But there is absolutely no doubt at all that they are all richly deserved in this case.”
The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back nearly 250 years. Other than awards made by the Crown it is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life.
It was founded in 1774 by two of the day's eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan. Their primary motive was to promote techniques of resuscitation.
However, as it emerged that numerous people were prepared to put their own lives at risk to save others, the awards scheme evolved, and today a variety of awards are made depending on the bravery involved.
The Society also awards non health care professionals who perform a successful resuscitation. Since it was set up the Society has considered over 90,000 cases and made over 220,000 awards. The Society is a registered charity which receives no public funding and is dependent on voluntary donations.