A Manchester woman is one of the first in the country to receive the humanitarian medal
is awarded to individuals contributing to HM Government’s humanitarian work, saving lives and alleviating suffering during a humanitarian response to a crisis, disaster or conflict.
Anna Daniell led the official UK Emergency Medical Team (EMT) into Derna, Libya in the wake of the dam collapse who were providing direct primary healthcare support to the affected population in areas outside of Government control.
Speaking about learning of her medal, Ms Daniell who lives in Chorlton’ 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.”
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.”
