Lisa Potts: Why I forgive St Luke's machete attacker Horrett Campbell

The nursery nurse, then aged just 21, showed extraordinary courage when deranged Horrett Campbell ran amok with a machete at St Luke's Church of England Infants School in Wolverhampton.

Despite being repeatedly slashed by the attacker she did all she could to shield her three and four-year-old pupils and her bravery later earned her the George Medal – the nation's second highest civilian bravery award.

Now a 41-year-old health visitor nurse working in the community with children and their families and married to a policeman, she said: "I don't get overly emotional about the event itself."

Read more: Why we owe Lisa Potts the greatest debt, by the little ones she saved

But she did burst into tears of pride and joy recently at an emotional reunion when she bumped into one of her former pupils Ahmed Malik.

"Every move and moment of that day is still so clear to me but mentally I keep them out of the way in a box.

"The children are different. It touches me deeply to see them alive and well when so easily they could not have been. I still think of them as children but now they are young adults and I am so proud of them.

"The fact that they survived is almost unbelievable and, considering what they went through, the way in which they have gone on to do such wonderful things with their life is amazing."

Lisa, who still lives in Wolverhampton, continued: "I have never seen myself as a heroine but really started to appreciate the significance of what I had done after having two children of my own – especially when I took them to nursery school for the first time.

"Without my actions that day Francesca, Ahmed and Rhena would almost certainly not be alive today. I know that and also believe I am the only surviving female holder of a George Medal awarded in peacetime.

"I am proud of the way I responded to the situation but do not mention that very often because I am not a boastful person."

Lisa has been spectacularly successful in ensuring her life was not defined by those eight minutes of horror.

There is no room in her home for the medal. It hangs in a display cabinet at Wolverhampton's Civic Centre after being loaned by her to the city. She has also forgiven Horrett Campbell for the attack that left her and the children close to death.

"My faith enabled me to do that and to move on. I even feel a little sorry for him. He turned out to be mentally ill and had not been receiving the proper treatment.

"If I had not been honestly able to forgive I would always have been consumed with bitterness and would not have gone on to do all the things that I have. I was not going to let what happened during those eight minutes to ruin my life." Lisa was dreadfully injured in the attack and still has problems with her left arm despite three operations. She explained: "I don't have full mobility but I have learned to adapt. It's not like a normal arm but I am lucky to have kept it.

"I get a little pain from it which gets worse both in the winter and as I get older but in terms of my back and head I don't have much pain at all.

"It is the psychological scarring that attacks people. Others cannot see it as they could a broken arm so they do not know what is really going wrong.

"Of course it affected me but it sounds a bit heavy to call it psychological scarring. It wasn't easy at first but I just got on with life. The next five years were like a rollercoaster ride but I would give up every one of the awards and all those amazing moments I had for it never to have happened to the children.

"I always questioned why he did that to them but now I fully appreciate that he was mentally ill and did it to whoever got in the way. It took me up to six years to come to terms with what had happened."

She launched her own charity – Believe to Achieve – which helps to raise the self esteem of pupils at schools in Wolverhampton and Dudley in 2002, was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at Wolverhampton University six years later, completed a three-year Diploma of Higher Education in 2013 and followed that by adding a BSc in Public Health.

Lisa concluded: "I cannot explain why I ran towards danger that day rather than run away. I knew there were children there I had to get out of the way. I was only 21. At that age you do not think your are invincible but you assume things will work out OK.

"Difficult things happen to all of us in life. We have to put it down as a life experience. Mine was one I hope other people do not have to experience. I could have sat around and moped but I decided to get up and go, turn it into a positive and, hopefully, inspire others."