At a fantastic event at the Roundhouse in London last night, Deena Evans and Michael Hipgrave, paramedics from Wolverhampton, won the 999 Hero award at the Sun’s Who Cares Wins health awards and were presented with it by HRH The Duke of Cambridge.

Deena and Michael were attacked on a routine call-out when Deena suffered two wounds to her chest and her colleague Mick was stabbed as he tried to protect her. Both continue to work as paramedics despite the injury and trauma and were nominated by senior operations manager, Richard Barrett, who treated them after the attack.  

Speaking at the event, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, Joint Royal Patron of NHS Charities Together, said:

“Every day our emergency services deal with high-pressured, challenging situations. When most of us would, quite naturally, turn away and seek safety, our emergency responders rise to the occasion – running straight towards the danger to provide vital and often life-saving support. Very modestly, they will tell you that this does not make them heroes, and it is all done in the name of duty. But sometimes a situation will occur that tests the resolve of even the most experienced responder. In times like these, they must face their deepest fears and find the most astonishing level of courage to overcome the obstacles in front of them. And that is truly heroic. The winners of this award faced just such a situation, but I am delighted to say they survived and are here this evening.”

The awards, created by the Sun in 2017 and run in partnership with NHS Charities Together and Channel 4, celebrated and thanked the NHS and healthcare heroes, key workers and ordinary people who care for us and have got us through one of the most difficult periods in living memory. The winners and their families got to mix it with celebrities and VIPs including David Beckham, Kate Garraway, Fleur East, Sir Trevor McDonald and Kadeena Cox, 

Sun readers and the public were encouraged to nominate any NHS workers, carers and volunteers they felt deserved recognition for going above and beyond. The categories awarded were:

1.  Best Doctor

2. Best Nurse

3. Best Team

4. Unsung Hero

5. Best Midwife

6. Ultimate Lifesaver

7. Young Hero

8. Ground-breaking Pioneer or Discovery

9. Mental Health Hero

10. The Christina Newbury Memorial Award

11. Best Health Charity

12. 999 Hero

You can find out who won by watching the awards ceremony, hosted by Davina McCall, on Channel 4 this Sunday at 7.30pm.

Ellie Orton OBE, NHS Charities Together CEO, who attended the awards, said:

“It was a joy to see such inspiring people getting public recognition for what they have done for all of us since the pandemic started. We are incredibly grateful to The Duke for supporting this amazing evening and helping to raise awareness of the incredible role of NHS staff over the year. NHS staff and volunteers have been through so much and it’s important that we remember their contribution and continue to be there for them over the coming months and years as the NHS recovers from the most challenging time it has faced. Thanks to the support of the public we have been able to fund hundreds of projects for the NHS workforce over the last year, including counselling and other emotional and practical support.”

Image credit: The Sun