A paramedic and a Paralympian have been named as finalists for the Welsh Government’s St David Award.
The St David Awards are the national awards of Wales and acknowledge the extraordinary achievements of people in or from Wales.
Paramedic Julian Rudge, from Blackwood, was the first on the scene of the murder of Iris Owens in May 2016.
Responding to the 999 call,Mr Rudge and a colleague arrived at the Ystrad Mynach home of the 75-year-old to find her son Robert Owens standing over her with a chainsaw.
The citation for Mr Rudge,who is up for a bravery award, reads: “Julian showed great presence of mind and bravely took control of the potentially very dangerous situation.
“He made sure his colleague was safely out of harm’s way and then used his excellent communications skills to calm and reassure the attacker until the police arrived and made a peaceful arrest. It was a situation that could have escalated if he had acted differently.
“Julian’s bravery and decisive decision-making in the face of extreme personal danger ensured the assailant was calmed and that members of the public and colleagues from the ambulance service and police were protected from harm.”
Hollie Arnold, from Ystrad Mynach, is the current Paralympic and double IPC World Champion and world record holder for the F46 Javelin.
Hollie was born without her forearm but this has never stopped her from doing anything.
While at school she attended a Star Track Athletics training course where she discovered a talent for throwing the javelin.
This led to her first disability sports event at the age of 11, where she won seven gold medals across several events.
In 2008, she was the youngest member of the Great Britain Paralympics Team at the Beijing Olympic Games at the age of 14.
In 2010 she took silver at the IWAS World Junior Championship and gold at the 2011 championship. In 2011 Hollie also stepped up to the senior level representing Britain at the IPC Athletics World Championships where she won the bronze medal in the F46 javelin.
In 2012, Hollie took part in her 2nd Paralympic Games in London. At the IPC World Championships in Lyon where she won gold,which she retained at the 2015 World Championships. In 2016 Hollie took part in her third Paralympics where she won gold with a world record breaking throw. In July 2017 she won gold at the 2017 IPC Athletics World Championships in London where she beat her own world record with a throw of 43.02 metres.
Hollie was made an MBE in 2017 in recognition of her inspirational sporting achievements.
Announcing the finalists First Minister Carwyn Jones said: “This event,now in its fifth year,is a celebration to acknowledge just some of the people who have had input to make the significant difference to someone else’s life, overcome adversity or have achieved something truly inspirational.
“Once again,the St David Awards finalists are an exceptional group of people.
“Every single one is a credit to Wales. I look forward to celebrating their outstanding achievements at the awards ceremony on March 22.”