South Australian nurse Kirsty Boden, hailed the “Angel of London Bridge” after the 2017 terror attack, will be awarded one of the country’s highest bravery honours.
Ms Boden was having dinner with two friends at a restaurant at Borough Market when they heard a crash.
The 28-year-old was fatally wounded by terrorists after she rushed to help people who had been injured.
Kristy Boden was named the 'Angel of London Bridge' for rushing to the aid of victims before she was killed. Source: Supplied
Melbourne mother Mary Sawan thought she was going to die when she saw gun-wielding masked intruders attacking her husband in her living room.
But her quick thinking thwarted the attack and she will now be honoured with a national bravery award on Thursday.
At about 4.30am on a March morning in 2015 Ms Sawan heard what she thought was a dining room table overturning, but which turned out to be three intruders in her Melbourne home.
She jumped on one of the men and pulled off his balaclava before pushing him against a wall, allowing her husband to get back on his feet.
"I didn't even think ... I just did whatever I did to save my family," Ms Sawan told SBS News.
"It's so hard to explain ... until you are put in that position, you don't know what you are going to do.
As the intruders shot at Ms Sawan her 21-year-old son got caught in a scuffle with one of the intruders, so she pulled off his balaclava and the attackers soon left the house.
The intruders were later charged for the incident. Ms Sawan is receiving the star of courage alongside Senior Constable Stephanie Bochorsky and Shaun McHenry.
Senior Constable Stephanie Borchorsky received the National Police Bravery Award after she saved two children, whose father tried to set them on fire in 2015. Source: AAP
The trio are among more than 70 Australians honoured in the latest national bravery awards announced by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove on Thursday.
Sen Const Bochorsky was off-duty when she rescued two girls from their father after he set one of them on fire and doused the other in petrol in Doubleview, Western Australia.
Mr McHenry is being awarded for protecting his firefighting colleagues during a fire burnover in Western Australia's Black Cat Creek in 2012.
Teddy Egan was an Indigenous Police Tracker in the 60s, who will be awarded posthumously today.
In 1967, a man shot two police officers and killed a civilian. Mr Egan was part of the search party looking for him, which took 14 days. When they found him, Mr Egan approached the man, who was still armed, and spoke to him in an Indigenous language. He managed to persuade the man to give up his weapons and surrender.
Melbourne men Gianfelice Fonte and Muhammad Usman rescued a woman hanging from a balcony in South Bank.
Mr Fonte was walking home late, and Mr Usman was a security guard nearby. They both heard her screams and raced up to her apartment, smashed in a wall so they could get inside, and hung themselves over the balcony so they could drag her back to safety.
"At this time I was not thinking," Mr Fonte told SBS News.
"We went to the 27th floor, took a [fire] extinguisher and broke the wall ...Together we pulled the girl inside.
"It was a very strong experience ... to save the life of a person is something very exceptional."
Mr Usman agrees.
"I think life is precious and saving someone's life is an honour," he told SBS News.
"Of course, I would do it again."
Muhammad Usman receiving a bronze medal for bravery from the Governor of Victoria Linda Dessau in 2017. Source: Fiona Basile
There are six young Australians among those commended for their brave conduct, including Leithan Till who rescued his six-year-old cousin from drowning when he was aged nine.
Another is Samantha Russell, who was 16 when she saved a 10-year-old boy and his mother from a rip at a WA beach.
Friends Daisy Kirchner and Sadie Wheeler are being honoured for their bravery in a similar situation, after the then-14-year-olds saved two Kosovan tourists from a rip at another WA beach in 2017.
Australia's Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove today will award bravery decorations to 101 outstanding Australians. Source: AAP
Sir Peter paid tribute to those honoured who died because of their brave acts.
"To their families, I express the nation's sadness at your loss but pride in your loved one's actions," he said.
Victorian man Luke Mitchell is being honoured for breaking up a fight between strangers, a decision which cost him his life when the attackers instead turned on him.
Dominic Morgan has also been acknowledged for his bravery in the 2006 Beaconsfield mine rescue.
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