IT’S the fight or flight moment we all dread.
These heroes, however, are those who bravely run to the danger. They have been nominated by Who Cares Wins for their extraordinary bravery.
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These finalists in the Ultimate Lifesaver category have all put their own lives on the line to save others.
They include paramedics who are dedicated and everyday heroes, and they have all had an extraordinary impact.
The winner will receive a star-studded award in a televised ceremony this month.
We now reveal the finalists.
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Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole
BRAVE Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole didn’t hesitate to dive into the freezing River Thames to save a woman back in April after hearing her desperate cries.
It was an act of heroism that would cost him his life – but his parents will hold their humble son ‘Jimi’ in their hearts forever.
Heartbroken dad Michael, 63, told Central Recorder: “Jimi is the hero of all heroes.
“We never imagined something like this would happen to our son, but we thank God that he is being honoured in this way because Jimi really is the Ultimate Lifesaver.
“I know that the moment he heard that woman screaming, he would not have thought twice – he would have jumped straight into the water because that was his nature.
“I know that many people carried on walking when they heard that woman’s cries for help, but not our son.
“He never thought about himself, only of other people, and we are so proud of the boy we raised.
“He actually saved two people that night because he stopped his friend, who could not swim, from jumping in after him.”
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Jimi was heading home after a 12-hour shift working as a waiter at London’s exclusive Cinnamon Club when he heard screams ringing out across London Bridge.
A woman was trapped in the icy water and shouting: “Help, I’m going to die.”
He took off his shirt then dived in accompanied by chef Joaquín García, 21, who had also heard the woman’s cries.
Jimi is believed have got into trouble because he tried to rescue the woman from the water in pitch-black darkness.
Joaquin, the woman, and her husband Joaquin were saved by the Met Police’s coast guard. But they couldn’t locate Jimi until six hours later.
He was nominated for the award by his uncle Olumide Wole-Maderiola – who lost his own son Malcolm to knife crime – who argues that his nephew’s “bravery and selfless actions” should be recognised.
Olumide, 54, said: “Jimi was an amazingly kind and considerate young man and he is the ultimate lifesaver.”
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Great North Air Ambulance Service
DARREN Crumpler was a student skydiver when he took his 15th jump on July 14, 2019.
He ended up landing on the side of a house at 35mph. The parachute caught on a TV aerial.
Following the shooting incident at Shotton Colliery (County Durham), he was left in severe pain.
Thankfully, medics from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) were called to the scene and quickly came to Darren’s rescue.
GNAAS paramedic Paul Burnage recalls: “It looked like something from a cartoon but was clearly a very serious incident and one which he was lucky to survive.”
Dr Dion Arbid also helped Darren down.
Dr Arbid quickly realized that Darren had fractured his femur, and was suffering from internal bleeding. He administered fake plasma blood in order to keep Darren alive.
After resetting his foot and elbow, he transported Darren to the hospital via an air ambulance.
Dr Arbid was there when he arrived.
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He says: “His leg was very nasty, he had an open ankle fracture and was dripping blood down the house.
“Despite everything, Darren was actually quite amusing and jovial.”
GNAAS airlifted Darren, 52, to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough where he stayed for 10 weeks.
He was left with a broken ankle, a fractured foot, a fractured hip, a fractured pelvis, and a fractured elbow.
Darren, from Catterick in North Yorkshire, said: “I would like to thank Dion and the GNAAS for the great job that they do.
“I believe I would have died if it wasn’t for their selflessness, dedication towards the job that they obviously get great satisfaction from doing.
“Words cannot describe how I feel, but to me they’re all heroes. I would like to say, thank you.”
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Raj Mann
FOR 27 minutes, paramedic Raj Mann fought one of the biggest battles of his career.
Eighteen-year-old nursery nurse Omar Akoto had collapsed at home with a suspected heart attack and his elder brother Ramone, 23, immediately called 999 and began performing CPR.
Raj, 57 was quickly on the scene and jumped into action.
He said: “Omar had no pulse and wasn’t breathing when I arrived. You learn to improvise as a solo responder so I had his brother do CPR so I could check Omar and see what was going on.
Raj was quickly joined by other paramedics and they tried to restart Omar’s heart with a defibrillator as they fought for nearly half an hour to bring him back.
Raj, from Clifton, in Bedfordshire, who has been in the ambulance service for 11 years, said: “We were joined by an incident response officer, two ambulances and an advanced paramedic.
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“So we were lucky to have the right resources at the right time. Omar was able to recover his life after everything went according to plan.
“We shocked him with a defibrillator and he stabilised. An ECG was done to examine his heart. There were some irregularities. The family was present and we updated them on the procedures and why they were done so that they are informed.
“In our training it is drummed into us that we don’t give up.”
Omar, who was in a coma more than a month, now has memory loss and is blind.
His mum Diana, 50, from Bushy, Herts, nominated him for the award for saving her 20-year-old son’s life.
The support worker said: “Raj and the whole team were excellent. Raj regularly visited Omar to check on his progress.
“He is amazing and he says we are family now.”
Raj added: “I was overwhelmed by being nominated. There were seven of us there and this is for all of us.”
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