First Humanitarian Medal winner recalls 'extreme devastation'

The first recipients of the new Humanitarian Medal have been announced, recognising aid workers, rescuers and emergency services sent by the UK government to international disasters and conflicts.

Anna Daniell is among the award winners, honoured for her efforts to provide medical services after dam bursts and deadly flooding in Libya in 2023.

She told the BBC she would never forget her first sight of the scale of devastation, which had taken lives, destroyed neighbourhoods, smashed roads and left cars "like empty Coke cans that have just been crumpled".

Anna welcomes the public recognition of humanitarian workers: "It really fills me with confidence that this is something that's being valued."

The new type of medal, conferred by King Charles, was announced by the Cabinet Office in July 2023 as a way of honouring those deployed by the UK to assist in major international disasters.

The first batch of 30 winners has been announced, with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, calling them "shining examples of public service" who have shown "selfless dedication to saving lives".

Anna went to Dern in Libya in September 2023 to lead the UK Emergency Medical Team, in the wake of floods in which an estimated 20,000 people lost their lives, a situation she describes as "extreme devastation".

She has worked in Ukraine and also in Turkey after the earthquake, but she says arriving in Dern had been shocking. "We fell completely silent."

The bursting of dams had "swept whole neighbourhoods into the sea".

"Just the power of seven-metre waves coming down in the middle of the night into a city. I think you can know intellectually what that might be like, but actually seeing it for real, I don't think I'll ever forget that," she says.

The task of the UK medical team was to provide healthcare, helping traumatised survivors alongside local health workers, who Anna says were often exhausted and had lost members of their own families.

"Many people were dead and missing, but we were there providing mobile healthcare, such as primary health care and maternity care," she says.

Anna, who is based in Manchester, says it was an "amazing surprise" to become one of the first winners of the medal, which she says "highlights the importance of humanitarian aid".

Their efforts are more important than ever, she says, adding: "These are extremely fragile times that we are living in at the moment, you know, due to climate change or prolonged conflict."

Also among the first medal winners is Shyam Rana.

Shyam's regular job is as a firefighter in the West Midlands, but he was honoured for his work after the Morocco earthquake in 2023 with the UK International Search and Rescue team, which has a specialism in searching for people in collapsed buildings.

Melanie Johnson has been honoured for leading a UK medical team in Gaza during the recent conflict, providing surgical, primary, and community healthcare support in a field hospital.

Such awards are a long time in development and the design on the reverse was approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

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