Grace O'Malley-Kumar's family 'humbled' by calls for a George Cross

The father of Nottingham attacks' victim Grace O'Malley-Kumar says he and his wife were humbled by suggestions she should receive a George Cross honour. Dr Sanjoy Kumar said his daughter Grace was a 'natural born leader' and from a young age she had looked to protect and include others.

Grace was in her first year studying medicine at the University of Nottingham when she was killed whilst trying to save her friend Barnaby Webber from Valdo Calocane on June 13, 2023. Both Grace and Barnaby were killed by Calocane, who then went on to kill caretaker Ian Coates before stealing his van and attempting to kill three more people.

The killer's prosecutor labelled 19-year-old Grace's decision to fight back as an act of "incredible bravery" and now there are calls across the country for Grace to be awarded the George Cross, which is the highest award that can be bestowed on a civilian. It is understood that Downing Street supports this, with a spokesperson for the Prime Minister stating: "I think the Prime Minister would certainly want to get behind nominations and he'd pay tribute to the bravery that Grace demonstrated whilst faced with perilous and terrifying circumstances."

Get the latest news straight to your phone by joining us on WhatsApp

Dr Kumar told Nottinghamshire Live today (Tuesday, April 30): "Right from an early age Grace stood up against bullies and included other girls when they were being left out, and that was when she was seven or eight years old. She wanted a career in the Royal Army Medical Corps where she could represent her country, people, and that's why her trust has the motto 'let's all be more like Grace', because she was just exemplary."

He continued: "During Covid she didn't hide away, like some of my colleagues who were doctors and were scared themselves did, she got on her little Vespa and started vaccinating people at a centre. She was one of the youngest vaccinators in the country."

Her father shared that when Grace was younger she had supported other girls to play cricket, and encouraged them to play against the boys in school and defend them from any sexist remarks. Regarding the possibility of a George Cross for Grace, Dr Kumar explained: "Sinead and I are very humbled that people from the communities and teams she was a part of are calling for this to happen.

"The support has been enormously powerful and to hear other people support this for our daughter is very touching. If the message to be more like Grace got out to more kids how wonderful would that be."

He added: "It really is poignant, I got a message from Wes Streeting, the Shadow Health Secretary this morning and he said that he very much supported this honour for Grace, and again it's very humbling that all these people are getting in touch."

To try and make things a little easier, we have now launched a new WhatsApp community to bring you the latest news and headlines straight to your phone. We'll be bringing you all the headlines from across Nottinghamshire directly to WhatsApp - and you will get the breaking news first.