He says, She says
Eamonn talks to… …OUR best HEROES EACH MONTH BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE TV COUPLE TAKE IT IN TURNS TO DISCUSS THE BIGGEST STORIES
he dictionary definition of a hero is ‘a person admired for their courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities’.
It’s a good description, but it doesn’t begin to describe the best Heroes of 2018 who I had the honour of meeting.
Heroes like: Yvonne Lawson, who lost her son Godwin to a knife killing, but who now works tirelessly to help prevent the same tragedy and heartbreak afflicting another family.
Benjamin Napier, who despite being diagnosed with cancer and his wife suffering a stroke, decided to be an example to his young children on why you should never give up. Second World War Spitfire pilot
Allan Scott, 97, who also didn’t give up and who, against vastly superior odds, was part of a small contingent who defended the island of Malta against the German Luftwaffe. Even more impressively, he was just 21 at the time. Can you imagine that? I had just about learned to drive a car at that age, but to fly a fighter plane in combat?
I could go on, but the stories of each of our recipients will be told on the following pages. You will admire them, sometimes pity them, sometimes not want to be them, and sometimes wish you had their strength, courage, wisdom and lots of other qualities they don’t see themselves as having.
That’s because we tend to think a hero is ready-made. That they wake up in the morning knowing they are a hero, almost as though they have a superhero costume hanging up in the wardrobe ready to wear.
Our winners mostly didn’t know what was ahead, what was the defining thing that would propel them from ordinary member of the public to extraordinary person.
For Alex Pandolfo it was developing Alzheimer’s and using his voice and experiences to crusade for a Right to Die at a time and place of his choosing. For Neil Laybourn it was stopping a complete stranger, now close friend Jonny Benjamin, from doing something similar but in a completely different way. Neil talked Jonny down from jumping off Waterloo Bridge in London. Soldier
Stu Parker talked about how medicine saved his life, but it was actually a military charity that allowed him to live fully.
And then there was bringing life into the world. Would you trust your 13-yearold son to deliver your baby at home? Thought not. Most of us wouldn’t trust them to deliver a newspaper. But helping at the birth of his brother Jacob is what Tyler Shell did – in his school uniform!
None of these folk chose their circumstances, but they all chose how to deal with them. They chose not to be defined by the problem, but to offer a solution. And that’s what fascinates us about heroes as we consider what we would do in similar circumstances.
The truth is, none of us will know until the problem comes to our door. But what I do know is that over the years I have
interviewed so many ordinary people who have become extraordinary because they have had to. Parents who have had to become experts on medicine, operations and law reform or stood up to injustice, prejudice and generally just done The Right Thing.
One of the ways we try to make our recipients feel special is to place a number of celebrities alongside them as table hosts. I compered the award presentations, but those doing their thing and adding some glitter to the occasion included Linda Robson, Caprice, Angie Best and others, including my Love Island admirer Laura Anderson, who I suspect got wind that Ruth couldn’t be there – or at least that’s what I like to think.
Once again, our evening was a nice mix of style and substance and, as I looked around the room, I thought that even though not everyone can be or indeed wants to be one, what a poorer place the world would be without its heroes.