In September 2023, PC Stuart Furlonger was attending a low-risk call at a block of flats in Peterlee, County Durham.
As the 33-year-old attempted to escort two people from the building, a man riding a quad bike deliberately crashed into him at speed.
The "whole world was spinning" as he was thrown to the ground and noticed his leg "felt like jelly".
He had suffered a double leg break, which required extensive surgery to fit pins and rods.
Over a career of 21 years, Cumbria Constabulary's PC Ruth Coates has been "punched, kicked, spat at numerous times, headbutted and dragged along by a moving vehicle".
One "harrowing" attack left her needing tests for Hepatitis B after a woman with the condition, who had a bleeding foot, kicked her in the mouth, she said.
But nothing could prepare her for the extreme violence she faced in November 2022.
She and a colleague were responding to a report of criminal damage in Alston when the man they were attempting to arrest attacked them.
PC Coates felt "the most excruciating pain" and realised he was "savagely biting" her arm.
Disturbing bodycam footage showed her crying out for help during the attack, which lasted several minutes.
She "immediately screamed" while also trying to help her colleague, who thought the man was "biting his finger off".
PC Coates said without the other officer's bravery she could have lost her arm.
Most of the police forces with a higher number of assaults cover major cities or large areas, but Cleveland Police in north-east England is one of the exceptions.
Its force area is the second smallest in England and Wales and serves a population of approximately 570,000 people.
In the 12 months up to the beginning of July, Cleveland recorded 860 assaults on officers, according to Supt John Wrintmore, who was shocked at the "really high numbers".
"To put that into perspective, that’s nearly one in two of all our officers across the whole force in any single year being the victim of an assault," he said.
"A high number of those have resulted in injuries and in some cases really serious injuries."
Nineteen Cleveland Police officers were injured during this summer's riots in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, after responding to events promoted as anti-immigration protests.
PC Furlonger was called in to offer assistance in Hartlepool and came "under missile attack straight away".
"There was a young kid, who can't have been any more than eight or nine, and he picked up a rock, threw it at the police line and ran away," he said.
"It was crackers."
He called the experience surreal, and said even the most experienced officers had "never faced anything like the severity" of the violence.
Officers are starting shifts "expecting" to be attacked, according to Paul Crowley of the Police Federation of England and Wales.
He said there was a national increase in assaults on police workers, which was affecting them "physically and mentally".
"No-one comes to work and should accept the fact they’re being assaulted."
Officers had "effectively become a punching bag", he said.
Police Federation chair for Cumbria Ed Russell said it was an "epidemic affecting the country".
"As to why it's happening, I'm afraid I can't answer," he said.
"These are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and it's happening every day."
The Home Office said: "Any assault on a member of the police workforce is a criminal offence.
"Those convicted of assaulting an emergency worker can face up to two years’ imprisonment, with escalating sentences for more serious incidents."