Pride of Britain Awards

2008 Winner Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher Matthew Croucher had less than three seconds to make a decision that could have cost him his life. As he led a fireteam of Royal Marine Commandos to investigate a suspected Taliban bomb-making factory near the town of Sangin, Afghanistan, he set off a trip-wire that unleashed a booby-trapped […]

2008 Winner Carol Saldinack When her own sons boasted of carrying out an unprovoked assault which left a father blind in one eye, Carol Saldinack was compelled to turn them over to the police. As she picked up the phone to make the call, trembling Carol knew that her decision would change her family life […]

2008 Winner Juby Mathew It started as just an ordinary day for Juby Mathew as he drove to his friend’s house one afternoon. But during that journey he was to face his greatest fear head on, risking his life and becoming a hero as he rescued a little boy from the jaws of a vicious […]

2008 Winner Bernie Butler Heroic Bernie Butler risked his life to rescue a man from a devastating explosion after a lorry collided with a gas tanker on the M6 motorway. Lorry driver Bernie was travelling southbound when he witnessed another lorry, driven by Philip O’Dowd, career across the central reservation and crash head on into […]

2008 Winner Medical Emergency Response Team In the battlefields of Afghanistan, the specialist Medical Emergency Response Team risk their lives every day by flying missions in the hotbed of terrorist activity. Known as the MERT, they serve as Helmand Province’s combat air ambulance. Supported by a bomb disposal team, fire and rescue unit and an […]

2008 Winner Pepe Rahman Hart Pepe has been the Head Teacher of the Trinity Church of England School in Radstock since it opened three years ago when two local schools merged. As a result of her hard work and determination, Pepe, 39, has developed a revolutionary environmental programme which is being adopted in other schools. […]