British police officer grabs van dangling from icy bridge

A police officer in England held onto a wrecked van teetering on the edge of an icy bridge Friday morning, in an effort to keep the vehicle and the trapped driver inside from plunging onto a roadway below.

West Yorkshire Police said PC Martin Willis was the first to arrive at a multi-car crash just before 6 a.m. on the A1, a north-south thoroughfare in England. Willis, a road policing officer with 10 years experience, said he found the van had crashed through a barrier and was hanging over the bridge. Inside, a man was upside down.

1st on the scene of this collision on the #A1M this morning and faced with a vehicle balancing over the edge of a bridge with the driver trapped! After holding on to the vehicle to stop it swaying in the wind I can't begin to desribe my relief when @WYFRS arrived on scene! pic.twitter.com/E8ilktlOl7 — Motorway Martin (@WYP_PCWILLIS) December 1, 2017

"Every time a lorry went by I could see the van sway and I just thought, 'It's right over the A64, if this van goes over it will kill the driver,'" he said. While his colleagues closed the road, Willis grabbed onto the van's rear axle.

"I told the victim not to panic and said 'we're going to get you out of there, whatever you do, don't move,'" he said. "I then grabbed hold of the rear wheel and pulled inwards which helped to keep the van balanced."

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All told, Willis was there for 15 minutes. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was able to stabilize the van and rescue a 22-year-old man with serious leg injuries.

Despite the dramatics, Willis claims he was just doing his job.

"Sometimes you do have to take risks and if you need to help someone, you need to help them," he said.