Nine-year-old boy wins bravery award for saving life of suicidal man

Ashley Palipana, aged nine, was passing by with mother Donna on the way to Scouting, when they spotted a man hanging off the edge of the wall. Donna, 44, a nurse at a London hospital, said she immediately spotted something was wrong and called out to the man: “Are you all right?” Then A SCOUT has won award for saving a young man’s life after talking him down from a ledge at Grays Beach. Her fears were raised when the man didn’t reply, but he responded when Ashley asked him: “Where’s your mummy?” Ashley, of Argent Street, Grays kept asking about his mother, until it was revealed both their mothers were nurses. The man, said to be in his 20s, slowly came down from the wall after explaining he had nothing left to live for after losing his job, girlfriend, rented home and iPhone within the space of a few days. He said he had been fired from his job for posting a picture online of himself smoking a cigarette in his uniform. Once he was down from the wall to safety, friends turned up. But, only weeks later, Donna said she found him on the streets, homeless after being kicked out by friends and sexually attacked. Taking him to the nearby Church of His Presence, they phoned an ambulance and his mother and prayed for him. Weeks later in a supermarket, a man came running up to her and said the man was back home with his mother was doing really well. Donna said: “I felt so relieved! I was so worried about this young man. “He was so innocent, you know. I couldn’t believe his friends treated him like that. I was so glad when I heard he was safe.” Ashley, who was eight at the time of the incident, was presented with the Badger of the Year in 2015 award by St John Ambulance after they heard what he had done. Ashley said: “I felt sorry for him and I wanted to help him. Share article “I like talking to people because I like to become their friend.” Lisa Bines, at the St John Ambulance, said: “Ashley showed great bravery and outstanding assistance to his mum when they both stopped to help a member of the local community.”