A brave hero fought off a thug with a traffic cone after a policeman was stabbed in the neck.
Covid test site manager Zakir Malik, 33, from Ilford, London, says he went into “tunnel vision mode” after his lunch break when he ran to save the officer who was left ‘bloodied’ and ‘shaking.’
Once he fended off the attacker and chased him into an alleyway, Zakir says he ran back to check on the officer who had been cut in the back of the head.
When police arrived, Zakir says that the last he saw of the British Transport Policeman was him being carried into an ambulance and leaving.
But almost a year later, Zakir says he was left “surprised” and “confused” after receiving a letter informing him he was to be given an award for outstanding bravery.
On the day he swooped in to save the officer, Zakir says that although it was a “scary thing to see”, his natural instinct to protect the man “automatically” kicked in.
Zakir said: “It was a very scary thing to see.
“We had just had our lunch in our office and heard a little bit of a commotion outside the window of our office.
“It was one of the British Transport Police officers being attacked by a male with two broken glass bottles.
“I remember opening my office door, looking out and seeing two males fighting on the floor and just literally went into tunnel vision mode and just didn't see anything else but how to save them.”
Police had been called to Romford train station after reports of a man trespassing on the tracks who then assaulted the officer.
Zakir says he saw this and came rushing to his rescue.
He said: “I hit the guy a few times so I made a distance between the attacker and the police officer.
“When he tried to run away from me, I chased him carrying a traffic cone and he ran into an alleyway.
“I chased him to the bottom of the alleyway and then another two police officers came and he attacked another police officer with the bottle.”
The site manager says it was only when a third officer arrived that they were able to restrain the attacker.
But once he was arrested, Zakir says his thoughts turned to the officer who had been assaulted and is still recovering at home.
He said: “ I thought, ‘oh my God. What's happened to that police officer?’, and then I ran back onto my test site.
“He was covered in blood. He was shaking. He was scared. He had been stabbed all on the back of his head.”
A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “Officers were called to the line in Romford on 2 March 2022 following reports of a man trespassing on the tracks.
"When the first officer arrived on scene, he was violently attacked by the man with a glass bottle, suffering a number of deep lacerations to his head and a stab wound to his neck which resulted in him suffering an arterial bleed.
"Members of staff from a nearby Covid testing site bravely came to help and the man ran off where he was located by two other officers.
"He assaulted a second officer with a bottle resulting in a laceration to his head and threatened a third officer, and was eventually arrested.
"He was sentenced to a hospital order on 1 November after pleading guilty to two counts of GBH with intent, threatening a person with an offensive weapon, two counts of possessing an offensive weapon and possession of cannabis.
"The first officer who was attacked is still recovering from the incident at home.”
Zakir says he wasn’t expecting to receive an award for saving the officer and that doing so came naturally due to his background in security at arenas and residential buildings.
Zakir said: “The officer just literally left in the ambulance and that was the end of it for me until I gave my statement.
“Then I received an email saying you've been awarded a commendation award from the Chief Constable for British Transport Police.
“I was a little bit shocked if I'm honest. I was a little bit shocked, a little bit surprised and a little bit confused.
“I didn't really understand what was happening until I spoke to somebody and they explained to me it was a nice thing to receive the recognition for outstanding bravery.
“I've always tried to ensure that you know if there's something I can do to help somebody or stop something, or if there's something that I feel like I can assist in, I would always get involved in it.”
Zakir says his father Mehmood who immigrated from Pakistan in 1967 wasn’t impressed to hear his son had put himself at risk.
But after receiving the award, Mehmoud shows it to everyone who visits.
Zakir said: “I told my dad what happened? He's like, ‘why are you so silly getting involved in somebody else's situations?
“And I was like, ‘Dad, I had to do what I had to do’, and he was like, ‘You’re never going to listen.’
“Every family member that comes over to the household, my dad's getting the award and he's proud.
“My whole family is very proud of me. Everybody put it up on their Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn all over the place.”
As well as being proud of Zakir, Mehmoud says he is proud of all his children including his son Haider - a graduate who stood outside Canary Wharf in London with a poster board of his CV.
The father-of-five said: “I was a bit shocked because Zakir put his own life at risk but what he did, he had to do.
“You have to help each other. Whether it's the police or a normal being you need to help each other.
“Even my own parents taught me the same thing that we should help each other and that’s what I’m passing on to my kids.”
