🚨 LEGEND
On the evening of 21 September 2021, Richard O'Brien was driving alone along Wood Street in Barnet, north London. It was dark when he noticed two people arguing aggressively at the roadside. He pulled over, and then he saw it: a man was stabbing a woman.
Richard didn't drive on. He moved his car forward to distract the attacker, then got out and tried to talk him down. When words failed, he went in, completely unarmed, and kicked the man, stopping the attack. By then the woman had been stabbed ten times and her injuries were life threatening.
He didn't stop there. With another kick, Richard knocked the attacker to the ground and sent the knife flying from his hand. He dragged him away from the w*apon and held him face down on the pavement until police arrived. The woman was taken to hospital in a life threatening condition, and the official citation states that without his intervention she would likely have lost her life.
Richard grew up in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, and now lives in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, where he runs an electrical contracting business. He later said he hadn't stopped to consider the danger to himself until he got home that night. The woman he saved only properly met him after he gave evidence at the Old Bailey trial, and only then did she learn who had rescued her.
In October 2025, Richard was awarded the King's Gallantry Medal for exemplary bravery. On 25 March 2026, he received it from His Majesty King Charles III at St James's Palace.
An ordinary man on an ordinary drive home, who chose to stop when it mattered most. Thank you, Richard.