Staffordshire recipient of new medal honouring humanitarian efforts ‘shocked’ by award

Two aid workers have said they are “shocked” after being awarded a “humbling” new medal honouring their work during major humanitarian crises.

Shyam Rana, Anna Daniell and Melanie Johnson have been recognised with the Humanitarian Medal for their responses on behalf of the United Kingdom to the Morocco Earthquake, the floods in Libya – both in September 2023 – and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The trio are the first people to receive the medal, with the responses having been approved by the King.

Recipients of the medal, which was first announced in July 2023, will be people who have responded to major humanitarian disasters, both at home and abroad.

Crises could range from natural and conflict-related disasters to significant industrial accidents and biological emergencies, such as an epidemic.

Mr Rana, 55, from Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, was operations commander for the UK International Search and Rescue (ISAR) team in Morocco, helping to search and rescue people under collapsed buildings.

At home he works for the West Midlands Fire Service Technical Rescue unit in Birmingham.

Reacting to the medal, he told the PA news agency: “It’s a huge honour for me. It’s a humbling experience, really.

“I’m coming towards the end of a 27-year career in the fire service, 19 of which have been in the ISAR team. I’ve been deployed all over the world [to] seven international rescue missions, and I’m just about to leave all that behind, so this really crowns a lifetime of service.”

Mr Rana said his ISAR team, comprising more than 60 members, was on the ground in Morocco searching for victims of the earthquake within 18 hours of receiving the initial call.

The searches included villages deep in the Atlas Mountains, where on one occasion the crew was forced to sleep rough overnight due to its remoteness.

Mr Rana said: “In the UK, we go to house fires or building collapses that involve one or two people. On these international disasters it’s in the tens or hundreds of thousands of people who are dead or have lost their homes and their loved ones, and are without any support.

“It’s hugely rewarding for us, but it takes its toll. When you see devastation on this magnitude, it puts you in a different mindset. It makes you want to come back and do more of this work.”

Mr Rana said his humanitarian work made him “incredibly proud”, adding: “This [work] needs to go on.

“When you save people in other countries in their time of need we build relationships, whether they’re political or economic, and those people don’t forget that. They don’t forget the things that you do for them.”

Ms Daniell, 34, from Chorlton, Greater Manchester, led the UK’s Emergency Medical Team into Derna, Libya, after heavy rains from Storm Daniel burst two major dams, causing widespread destructive flooding.

Speaking about learning of her medal, Ms Daniell said: “It’s a real honour to be selected. It was really exciting, a really nice surprise. I was not expecting it at all.

“I think I was quite shocked when I found out at first, it’s sort of still sinking in a little bit.

“The fact that this new award has been created, I think it really helps to kind of highlight the importance of humanitarian work.”

Ms Daniell said whole neighbourhoods in Derna were swept into the sea by the floods, while critical bridges and roads were also badly damaged, making their response efforts much trickier.

“I will never forget the first time that we drove into the city centre of Derna,” she said.

“On the journey there, we’d been chatting, talking in the car, and we all, I think, just fell silent as we drove through the city.

“As a person I’d say I’m probably rarely speechless, but I think the level of devastation that we saw there, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.”

Reflecting on her time in Libya, Ms Daniell, who works as an operations coordinator for the humanitarian medical NGO UK-Med, added: “I truly believe that everyone should have access to quality healthcare, especially in crises or natural disasters. And I think as well, just for people to know that they haven’t been forgotten.

“I think we were able to do really great work, you know, clinically, but also kind of on, like a on a personal level, to be able to provide a bit of a respite for, you know, some of the clinicians in Libya who had been, you know, basically working around the clock since the disaster happened.”

Ms Johnson, from Totterdown in Bristol, is the medical co-ordinator for the humanitarian medical NGO UK-Med in Gaza, providing surgical, primary, and community healthcare support at hospitals in the territory.

The medal’s design features an image of the King on one side and the words ‘for humanitarian service’ interwoven with a laurel wreath on the other.

It is decorated with a multi-coloured ribbon which aims to reflect “the different paths for humanitarian service and the variety of services involved in such responses”, according to the Cabinet Office.

Government departments make recommendations for eligible Humanitarian responses before medal awards are submitted to the King for approval.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “This new medal recognises the incredible dedication and selfless service of individuals on the frontline of the UK’s responses to some of the world’s most devastating crises.

“I am delighted the first tranche of awards will recognise members of the UK government’s emergency deployment teams, for their brave work in Libya, Morocco and Gaza.

“The International Search and Rescue team and Emergency Medical Team are made up of expert firefighters and medics from across the UK, who travel to the most challenging of environments to save lives.”