My father the hero...

One of my earliest memories is of my parents taking me to the mayor's office in Nottingham, where my Mum, Dad, Brother and I saw Dad step forward to recieve a shiny medal. Or a certificate or something. I was too young at the time to remember. Anyway, we were at the big council building, and that's all you need to know to set the scene.

The why? Let me tell ya...

A few months before, Dad had been cycling home of an evening and was just crossing a bridge, when he noticed a woman dressed in white (no, she wasn't a ghost) standing next to the banks of the River Trent.

Continuing to cycle, he happened to look back, only to see she'd disappeared. In the water he saw a flash of white and instinctively, stopped and ran off the bridge and dived into the freezing cold, fast flowing current. (whatever happened to his hearing aids? I'll have to ask him and find out.)

Anyway, fighting the current, he found her and managed to drag her out.

Later, sadly, we found out it was a suicide attempt, but the lady seemed glad that my Dad had saved her, and wrote him a letter thanking him for it.

Why do I mention it now? Well, today at work someone happened to see the picture in a book and brought it over to my desk - I got the shock of my life..! Dad never, ever mentions it so I'd almost forgot it ever happened.

My Dad really is Superman.