18 THE RIVER MAGAZINE | Summer 2017 | C O M M U N I T Y | D ay in, day out, taxi drivers, bus drivers, couriers fill the streets going about their business. Shopkeepers serve customers, police men and women make their patrols, Londoners are busy putting sandwiches together, making coffees, pulling pints and tourists fill every available space between these wheels and cogs that make up the city. Our stars and heroes are mostly legends in history, or on a stage or a screen; rarely by our sides. Then something happens. Something with an almost surreal impact that pulls ordinary people into the spotlight where their courage and heroic humanity is revealed. On Monday 10th April 2017 the funeral service was held for PC Keith Palmer. Thousands of police from forces from all over the country lined the streets with the general public to witness the procession of his coffin from Westminster through the streets to Southwark Cathedral. Among the attendees were Met officers, and colleagues from the London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade who had been part of the emergency response on Wednesday 22 March. The Eulogy by Chief Inspector Neil Sawyer gave an insight into Keith. Having left the army, where he had served as a member of the Royal Artillery, Keith went on to join the Met, policing with a passion for fifteen years. In 2015 alone he made in excess of 150 arrests and was nominated for the Commissioner’s Excellence in Policing Awards as‘Top Thief Taker of the Year’. A Depeche Mode fan, his colleagues recalled him singing his favourite song‘I Just Can’t Get Enough’, as his arrest rate continued to rise. Chief Inspector Sawyer summarised the Met’s appreciation, “His spirit will never leave us and he will remain an inspiration to us all – Keith’s blue lamp will shine bright forever. And on behalf of us all we say‘Thank you’– Keith made a difference and we will not forget.” On the day PC Keith Palmer became known to us all as a hero, other people did too; a pensioner, a mother, a tourist were all killed by the attacker’s hire-car and young lovers were torn apart; one Shining Rays of Light Our stars and heroes are mostly legends Awards as‘Top Thief Taker of the Year’. A Depeche Mode fan, his colleagues recalled him singing his favourite song‘I Just Can’t Get Enough’, as his arrest rate continued to rise. summarised the Met’s appreciation, “His spirit will never leave us and he will remain an inspiration to us all – Keith’s blue lamp will shine bright forever. And on behalf of us all we say‘Thank you’– Keith made a difference and we will not forget.” heroes A dAy of Andreea Cristea, Andreea Cristea, a “shining ray of light” Crowds assemble in Potter’s Fields for the vigil on 5 June 2017 P H O T O : C O u R T E S Y O F M E T P O L I C E