Hazel, the widow of PC William Barker who died will searching for casualties near a raging river back in 2009, has shared her haunting memories of the day he lost his life
The widow of a police hero swept to his death in the Cumbrian floods has paid an emotional tribute on the 15th anniversary of the disaster.
PC William “Bill” Barker died while searching for casualties near a raging river on November 20, 2009. His widow Hazel, 70, says it was left to her “to tear my children’s worlds apart” as she broke the news of their father’s death.
He was standing on Northside Bridge in Workington when a section of it gave way underneath him. The 44-year-old was carried off by the swollen River Derwent. His body washed up 10 miles away on a beach in Allonby.
Pc Barker was posthumously awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery. Marking the anniversary, Hazel was “full of a mixture of emotions”.
“I heard a knock at the door, and I can still hear that knock at the door 15 years later,” she said. “It was a normal Friday morning. I couldn’t settle during the night, I don’t know why. So I came downstairs, laid the mugs on the table, the usual mundane things you do.
“I knew something was very wrong, I thought it was somebody who had brought Bill home. I heard a knock, she asked to come in and I said ‘just tell me that he’s alright’.”
The father-of-four had served for 25 years and had been in the roads policing unit since 1991. He was checking for people in the water while redirecting traffic off the bridge, as 24-hours of rainfall left some areas under 8ft (2.4 m) of water.
Hazel told the BBC that it was “so surreal” at the time. Her immediate thoughts went to the children sleeping upstairs. The youngest was aged four at the time. “I remember us going to Cockermouth, it was like a war zone,” she said. “To see the resilience of Cumbria made me proud to be Cumbrian.
“And the resilience of my kids, they’ve all grown up now, all making their way in life. But it could have been very, very different for them. It’s been a crazy 15 years for me. Whilst there’s been a lot of sadness, there’s also been an amazing amount of joy, that’s the balance.”
Cumbria Crime Commissioner David Allen also paid tribute, saying: “I knew PC Bill Barker during my time as a Sergeant at Workington. He was respected by all of us that knew him, and he had a great sense of public duty.” Cumbria Police hold an annual football tournament in his memory, with officers and staff competing for the Bill Barker Memorial trophy, raising money for The Great North Air Ambulance ‘Pride of Cumbria’.
