Construction worker earns praise after bravely stepping in to save man from a burning building

It is very easy to say on impulse that one should always be ready to help others, but oftentimes, people on-site pull away from displaying such bravery. Many things enter the mind in such situations, like fear for their safety and personal equations. Therefore, people cannot step up to the plate and provide a hand of help to others. But crane operator Glen Edwards showed how he is apart from the grain as he selflessly jumped in to save a man from a perilous situation, reports Good News Network. Along with bravery, he also displayed huge awareness of his surroundings by noticing the coat a distressed man was waving.

The whole incident took place in Reading, England. Edwards was on a construction site when he suddenly noticed a man waving his coat from the top of a burning high-rise building. The building was One Station Hill office development that had been engulfed in fire. This is not the first time a fire has broken out at this location. As per the Daily Mail, five months ago, a similar disaster took place. Though the fire is contained now, its cause remains unclear.

In order to rescue the man, Edwards facilitated the use of a metal cage attached to his crane. The metal cage is mostly used to keep workers protected during construction, but that day its presence became a stroke of luck for the endangered man. Edwards, after seeing the man in distress, called his supervisor for guidance. The supervisor instructed him on how to lower the cage in such a way that it came close to the building. Thereafter, the man easily jumped into the cage safely. The whole thing happened in front of a crowd. The moment the man jumped into the cage, they erupted in cheers for the successful venture. The crane operator explained, "I was no more than 20 meters up in the air and I looked out my left-hand window and saw a guy standing on the corner of the building. 'I'd only just seen him and someone said, 'Can you get the cage on', so that was it. I got the cage on and got it over to him the best I could. It was quite windy conditions."

“I would say it was a very close call if you look at the video at the way the wind was swirling around there,” Edwards said, “I tried to put the cage down between him and the flames, but I was hampered by the wind swirling around there. But I got the cage down and I managed to get him in there.” Edwards doesn't consider himself a hero for his act. He added, "I don't want to blow it up too much, I'm not that sort of person."

The rescue effort was not simple by any means, as the wind was blowing the cage and smoke was reducing visibility. The cladding around the Station Hill housing development was constantly releasing toxic fumes into the environment. It was fortunate that the toxic fumes were blowing away from the endangered man; if they had been directed at him, he could have suffered lethal smoke inhalation. Fortunately, only two people suffered breathing issues because of the fire and are now receiving treatment at the nearby hospital. Fifty firefighters from Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue soon arrived at the scene and got the situation under control.