Heroes recognised for bravery

Forty-seven people from the emergency and voluntary sectors and the public have been presented with Brave@Heart Awards recognising acts of bravery and heroism.

Of the 47 winners, 17 awards were presented to members of the public.

Six of the winners also received the St Andrew’s Award for exceptional acts of bravery.

The awards were presented by the First Minister at a special event held at Edinburgh Castle. She said:

“Each year I am honoured and humbled to be able to present these awards to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary bravery.

“This is our chance to say a heartfelt thank you to those who, every day risk their lives in their professional roles and to members of the public who have stepped in to help a fellow citizen in danger or distress.

“Everyone who has been nominated for an award is a credit to Scotland and an inspiration to us all.”

Brave@Heart 2017 panel chair, Lindsay Burley said:

“In my final year as chair of the judging panel I am amazed by the heroism demonstrated by all those nominated for an award.

“We must never forget how privileged we are to have such dedicated emergency professionals and members of the public, willing to assist even when their own lives are in danger. They are an inspiration to us all and I would like to offer my congratulations to all the winners.”

Background

Among the winners of the St Andrew’s Award are PC Mark McDade, Lorraine McDade and Ryan Quinn.

Off duty PC Mark McDade and Lorraine McDade were at a shopping centre car park when they saw a man in possession of a large machete and metal pole. PC McDade told his wife to call the police whilst he tried to talk to the man and ask him to drop his weapons. However, he became more aggressive and made way to pick up his weapons again when PC McDade tackled him to the ground. Mrs McDade came to assistance by lifting the weapons away and helped to restrain the man until the police arrived.

In October 2016, Ryan Quinn was travelling with colleagues on the A76 for a St Andrews First Aid duty when they came across a road traffic accident.  A Rangers football supporter’s bus had crashed and was lying on its side on a grass verge.  Ryan and his colleagues were first trained responders on the scene. They began to triage and treat casualties before and after the emergency services arrived on scene. Whilst conducting initial assessments, and without considering his own safety Ryan worked to treat a casualty who was trapped under the bus, attempting to stem an arterial bleed.  Despite having dealt with such a traumatic event Ryan continued on to Rugby Park to provide first aid cover at the Kilmarnock v Aberdeen football match.