- Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Grace O’Malley, 19, was stabbed to death while trying to save her friend, Barnaby Webber, by a knife-wielding man in Nottingham last year.
By: Twinkle Roy
THE name of late British Indian medical student Grace O’Malley Kumar is being pushed to be considered for the George Cross – UK’s highest civilian honour for bravery after she died while saving her friend from an attack. Her parents are actively backing the call.
The 19-year-old Kumar was stabbed to death while she tried to save her friend Barnaby Webber after being attacked by a knife-wielding man, Valdo Calocane, in Nottingham last year.
Recalling the footage of her daughter trying to “fight, and fight, and fight” during the attack, Kumar’s father Sanjoy Kumar told The Sun newspaper, “The bravery she showed was incredible for a young girl. The accolade would be an example to every other young person.”
Read: Nottingham stabbings: Victims’ families seek answers on killer’s escape
“The foundation that we’ve set up for Grace — its motto is ‘Let’s be more like Grace’. The world, never mind just England, deserves people like Grace,” he said.
Traditionally, the British prime minister recommends the George Cross – a rare honour conferred on just 160 individuals since its introduction in 1940.
Read: Nottingham attacks: Killer’s sentence review date set for May 8
“The George Cross would be a remarkable acknowledgement of her bravery, for sure. Grace is never coming back to us, but we never want her to be forgotten, and this would certainly make sure she is remembered for ever,” her mother Sinead O’Malley said.
According to The Sun, a number of British parliamentarians, including Conservative MP Marco Longhi, who is a member of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, and fellow Tory MP David Morris, have led calls for Grace to be awarded the prestigious medal for her “selfless bravery”.
Earlier, during one of the hearings in the case, a judge applauded Kumar for her “astonishing bravery”.
The newspaper also joined the campaign and urged prime minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles III to honour the late student for her supreme sacrifice.
Meanwhile, families of the victims have continued to call for Calocane to face murder charges that he denied and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
It resulted in him being sentenced earlier this year to a mental health order to be detained in a high-security hospital following a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court.
(With PTI inputs)
