M62

On Father’s Day it is worth celebrating the dads who have proven with their actions that not all heroes wear capes.

These dads went above and beyond their parental duties and sprung into action to help others.

From a dad who saved a man threatening to jump off a bridge on the M62, to another who dived into a lake to save a distressed dog these men are to be applauded.

READ MORE: Merseyside towns and villages that will be underwater by 2050^[1]

Here we take a look at just a few examples of dads who made their families and the city proud.

And if you do want to nominate your dad and tell us a little bit about why they are so great – get in touch in the comments!^[2]

Quick thinking lorry driver dad

Quick thinking Tom Birkett parked his truck under a bridge a man was threatening to jump off.

The 35-year-old was driving on the M62 near Warrington last week when he spotted someone sitting on the edge of a bridge with their legs dangling over the edge.^[3]

The married dad-of-three slowed down as he approached – and managed to park his 44-tonne tipper truck directly underneath where the man was sitting.^[4]

His Mercedes truck was also fitted with a canvas over the tipper, providing it with a soft top and essentially creating a net for the man to fall into, although luckily it was not needed.

Tom, from Kendal, Cumbria, said: “I was coming up to bridge when I clocked there were three people on it.

“As I got closer I could see that the lad was sat on the wrong side of the barrier.^[5]

“I thought, ‘I’m going to have to do something here, this lad’s going to jump off’.”

Tom then put his hazard lights on and began weaving his truck in order to notify other motorists there was a problem ahead.

He added: “I don’t know what clicked in my head but it suddenly dawned on me that I could help.

“I lined the truck up with the lad so the front of the trailer was underneath him.”

When Tom arrived, on June 8, police were already on the scene, including two officers on the bridge who were speaking to the man.

A short time later, a negotiator arrived and, according to Tom, spent around 45 mins talking to the man before he brought himself to safety.

Dad jumps in lake to save dog

Ste Cotton was hailed a “hero” and gave his family a good laugh in the process after jumping in a lake to save his beloved pet dog.

Helen and Ste Cotton were out on their daily walk with their 11-year-old family pet, Trudy when she somehow made her way to the middle of the frozen lake at Walton Hall Park.

Trudy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel^[6] found herself in freezing cold water seconds later and was unable to pull herself out.

It was at that point owner, Ste, 48, jumped in the ice cold water to rescue his beloved family pet.

In a video of the incident, Ste, a former lifeguard, wearing only jeans and a t-shirt is seen carrying Trudy on his shoulder as his stepdaughter and onlookers break out in a fit of hysterical laughter.

Speaking to the ECHO^[7], Helen Cotton, Ste’s wife and Trudy’s owner described the incident as a shock.

She said: “Me and my husband go walking everyday as part of our daily exercise. Trudy has never ever gone near a lake so we were quite shocked.

She went over and had a sniff herself, realised it was hard so that she could walk on the ice and just ran off into the middle of the lake.

“As you can imagine as soon as she got to the middle the ice just collapsed so she went in. She wasn’t big enough to break the ice to make her way back so she was stuck.

Helen added: “It was the look of realisation on Ste’s face when he was going to have to go in. It was the funniest thing. He just looked as if to say ‘I’ve got to go in here’.

“If Ste hadn’t of gone and got her she wouldn’t have got out, she couldn’t get anywhere, she couldn’t break the ice. He’s my hero.”

Dad on Universal Credit spent lockdown helping elderly neighbour

Kenneth Ludbrook was crowned a local legend for his selfless efforts in lockdown.

Two years ago, Kenneth Ludbrook, 64, from Knowsley^[8], suffered an injury following a road accident which meant he had to undergo an operation on his back and now finds it difficult to move around.

But in spite of this, throughout the pandemic the hero dad stepped up to help his 81-year-old neighbour Marlene Lewis, giving her regular lifts to church and hospital appointments, as well as delivering her weekly shopping.

The dad, who at the time relied on Universal Credit, said it was “important that we all look after one another and keep a lookout for those nearby that may be lonely and in need of support.”

And for his efforts Kenneth was crowned Liverpool’s Local Legend and was also praised for his selfless efforts by the late Captain Sir Tom Moore.

Kenneth said: “Marlene is such a sweet lady and has had a real hard time over the past few years.

“She is two and a half years in remission from breast cancer and sadly lost her husband two years ago so she doesn’t have many people around to look in on her. My daughter wasn’t able to take her to church one weekend so I stepped in and I’ve been helping her out ever since.

“It’s important that we all look after one another and keep a lookout for those nearby that may be lonely and in need of support during this tough time.

“There are so many people like Marlene in the UK that need our help so help out in any way that you can.”

Marlene nominated Kenneth for Virgin Media’s Local Legends competition, which recognises those who have made a significant contribution to their communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dad stops driver getting parking ticket

Colin Spark from St Helens^[10] stepped in when he saw a parking warden about to give a driver a ticket.

The dad was out Christmas^[11] shopping on Saturday, December 6 2020 when he spotted wardens patrolling a car park.

He was about to drive off^[12] when he saw one of the attendants taking down the details of a silver Ford.

The 33-year-old HGV mechanic said: “When I was going back to my car, I saw the wardens take a picture of the car not far away from mine.

“We got in the car and as I was driving off I noticed he was talking to another parking attendant.

“I stopped my car and asked them if I could give them my ticket to stop them getting a fine.

“They both looked at each other for a minute and said, okay, as it’s Christmas.”

After the kind gesture the dad took to Facebook and wrote that the driver of the car surely “owed him a pint” now.

He wrote: “If this is your car you owe me a pint, you were about to get a parking ticket today and I asked the parking attendants if I could give you my ticket to save you getting a fine and they said ‘why it’s Christmas yes…’

“It was a beautiful moment.

“I’m pretty sure an old lady that was walking past shed a tear of pure gratitude, and a family walking past said it was the nicest thing they’ve ever seen anyone do, the ticket only cost me £1 though and I’d already used it so I didn’t need it anymore… it was still dead nice of me though [thumbs up emoji] merry Christmas x”

Dad gives up free time to help struggling kids

A kind-hearted dad Lee Anson used his spare time refurbishing laptops for struggling school children.

Lee Anson helped supply 90 devices to 18 schools in just 10 days across the region and has no plan to slow down.

The network administrator spent his free time fixing laptops while juggling two children and his full-time job.

He said he was frustrated at the government’s efforts to help pupils out with home learning during lockdown.

Lee, 31, from Saughall Massie^[13] started out with a small Facebook page appealing for help, but was stunned by the huge response after first donation to St. Pauls Primary School.

Afghanistan veteran Lee, who served in the Royal Corps of Signals between 2007 and 2014, spends his mornings, lunch breaks and evenings working on the devices that can take up to an hour to fix.

After watching the news and seeing the government merely ‘scratch the surface’, it left him thinking “what can I do?”.

Lee said: “Being a Wirral lad, I thought what can I do to help the community? And what I do day-to-day is IT.

“I thought that if I get computers in it is easy enough for me to fix them up, get them going and from there I can get them out to schools. Even if it is just that little bit.

“Since then, I have been contacted by Wirral Council and they are getting involved now.

“I have only been doing this for 10 days now and from lunchtime today there will 90 devices in the hands of families who need them. It was just a case of I need to do something, what can I do?”

He said: “When we first put the picture up of the donations to St. Pauls primary school, the very first one, after that it sky rocketed.

“When you see people asking for stuff on Facebook you sometimes think it is a scam, but once they saw they were actually going to the schools it kind of just rocketed in that one day and it just took off massively.”

You can contact Lee or donate your old laptops via his Facebook page here.^[14]