Came across this inspiring piece yesterday in the Mail Online. It’s about Lance Corporal Kylie Watson, a medic with Royal Army Medical Corps, who’s only the fourth woman in history to be awarded the British Armed Service’s Military Cross, an award granted in recognition of “gallantry during active operations against the enemy”. The article describes Watson’s heroic actions under fire – in two separate incidents in Afghanistan.
When Lance Corporal Kylie Watson was summoned to the office of her commanding officer for a ‘fireside chat’ she feared the worst. ‘Do you know why you are here?’ he asked the combat medic. ‘Am I in trouble, Sir?’ she enquired. ‘No,’ he told her. ‘You’ve been awarded the Military Cross.’
‘Are you sure you’ve got the right soldier?’ she asked. But there was no mistake. The extraordinary heroism she displayed by twice running into Taliban fire to treat wounded comrades had been recognised with one of the UK’s highest honours.
Like so many true heroes, she’s modest too.
While reporter Sarah Oliver did quite a good job of telling the story I was struck by the bit that she (- or her editor?) chose to focus on to title the piece: “‘Oh, Kylie! What did you do? Next time, please don’t…’: What mother told Military Cross hero daughter who twice braved hails of bullets to tend war wounded”
I mean, why focus on a mother’s understandably selfish comment, when the whole article is really about Kylie’s selflessness? Such is the world of tabloid journalism I guess.
Which brings me to my second observation. I was really caught up in Kylie’s story so paid no attention to the sidebar as I was reading down the page. But scrolling back up, I couldn’t help but notice all the teasers for the latest gossip stories about mostly scantily-clad celebrities. What a jarring contrast! Juxtaposed with a tale about real heroism we get these snippets of a bunch of superficial people and their petty make-believe lives.
It really begs the question; would the world be a better place if it were full of celebrities – or people like Lance Corporal Watson???
