Stories of Courage: Awards and Heroic Acts of Young Rescuers

Awarding of Brave Children

In 2003 Rachel and Emma Mawdsley and Lisa and Liam Southall received Children of Courage awards from the Queen in Westminster Abbey. this's their stories.
It was an exciting night for Rachel and Emma Mawdsley from Ripon in North Yorkshire. Their dad, Paul, was coming home from Iraq the next morning. The house was full of people. There was their mum, Julia, their three younger brothers and sisters, and family friend Karen Jones and her four children. The Jones’ children were sharing bedrooms with the five Mawdsley children.

During the night, the television in the living room caught fire. The fire spread to the curtains and then to other rooms downstairs in the house. Everyone was sleeping when 12-years-old Rachel and 11-years-old Emma woke up and found their bedroom was full of smoke. They knew what to do because they had done a fire safety course at school. They stayed calm and woke everybody up. Their mum, Julia, was terrified, bud Rachel and Emma led the others out to safety. They used their bodies to protect the youngest children from the heat and smoke.

“they were wonderful”, says Julia. “we are all alive today because of them”.

Rescue at Dudley Lake

Lisa and Liam Southall, aged 13 and 11, were playing with their friend Lianne near a lake in Dudley, West Midlands. Lianne went to wash her hands in the lake but she fell into the icy water. She panicked because she didn’t know how to swim. When Lisa saw Lianne in the water, she ran to the lake. She took off her jeans and her shoes and then dived into the water and pulled her friend on the land.

While Lisa was rescuing Lianne, Liam ran a kilmetre to the nearest phone to call for help. An ambulance arrived at the scene and took the girls to hospital. They both had hypothermia but they were fine after a few hours.

“Liam and Lisa were fantastic”, said their mum, Debra. “They saved Lianne’s life”.

Awarding of Brave Children (Italian)

Nel 2003 Rachel e Emma Mawdsley, Lisa e Liam Southall hanno ricevuto il premio “coraggio dei bambini” dalla regina, nel west minster Abbey. Qui ci sono le loro storie.
Era stata una notte emozionante per Rachel e Emma Mawdsley di Ripon nel Yorkshire. La mattina dopo, il loro papà, Paul, tornava a casa dall’Iraq.

La casa era piena di persone. C’era la loro mamma, Julia, i loro tre giovani fratelli e sorelle e l’amica di famiglia, Karen Jones e i suoi quattro bambini. I bambini di Jones condividevano la camera con i cinque bambini di Mawdsley.

Durante la notte la televisione nel soggiorno prese fuoco. Il fuoco si propagò per le tende e poi per le altre stanze sotterranee nella casa.

Tutti stavano dormendo, quando la 12enne Rachel e l’11ene Emma si alzarono e scoprirono che le loro camere piene di fumo.

Loro sapevano che cosa fare perché avevano fatto un corso di sopravvivenza agli incendi, a scuola. Restarono calme e portarono ogni persona fuori.

La loro mamma, Julia, era terrificata ma Rachel e Emma guidarono gli altri fuori per salvarli.

Usarono i propri corpi per proteggere i ragazzini dal fumo e dal calore.

“sono state splendide” ha detto Julia. “oggi noi siamo tutti vivi grazie a loro”.

Rescue at Dudley Lake (Italian)

Lisa e Liam Southall, di 13 e 11 anni, stavano giocando con la loro amica Lianne vicino al lago in Dudley, West Midlands. Lianne era andata a bagnarsi le mani nel lago ma caddè nell’acqua ghiacciata. Lei andò in panico perché non sapeva nuotare. Quando Lisa vide Lianne nell’acqua, corse nel lago. Prese i suoi Jeans e le sue scarpe e poi entrò in acqua e portò la sua amica verso la terra ferma.

Quando Lisa portò in salvo Lianne, Liam corse un chilometro al telefono più vicino per chiamare un aiuto. Un’ambulanza era arrivata sul posto e prese le ragazze e le portò all’ospedale. Entrambe erano ipotermiche ma si ristabilirono dopo alcune ore.

“Liam e Lisa sono stati fantastici” ha detto la loro madre, Debra “hanno salvato la vita di Lianne”.