Unsung heroes who have overcome great adversity to contribute to their communities and raise awareness of important issues make up the majority of those on the king’s birthday honours list.
They include the Police Service of Northern Ireland detective Clodagh Dunlop, 45, who had a brainstem stroke 10 years ago that left her paralysed with locked-in syndrome and only able to communicate by blinking one eye. She receives an MBE for her work with stroke survivors.
After seven and a half months in hospital, then learning to walk and talk again in intensive rehab, Dunlop continues to make a recovery, though she still has disabilities. Now back with the force as a serving officer, she is honoured for her work highlighting the danger of younger people with strokes being misdiagnosed and the importance of fast access to life-saving surgery.
“Many people tell me I have a great story, but as great as the story is and as remarkable as my recovery has been, I really don’t want anybody else to have the same story,” she said. Receiving the honour was “very humbling” and motivating, she said.
Hari Budha Magar, a former Gurkha who lost both legs after stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, became the world’s first double-amputee to ascend Everest in 2023. At the same time as his MBE for disability awareness was made public, the father of three from Canterbury was en route to Alaska to climb Denali, North America’s highest mountain.
The adventurer, who has raised more than £800,000 for charities and gives motivational speeches, said he was “really thrilled and delighted” with the honour. He said that when he was growing up in Nepal, people with disabilities were seen as a “burden of the earth” and disability was perceived as a sin from previous lives. “I want to raise awareness of disability and encourage other people to climb their own mountain, whatever that mountain is,” he said.
Three fathers who have been made MBEs for walking campaigns to raise money for suicide prevention after losing their daughters said their honours were “bittersweet”. Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen started Three Dads Walking in memory of their daughters who took their own lives – 17-year-old Beth Palmer, 19-year-old Emily Owen and Sophie Airey, 29. The fathers completed a 500-mile walk from Stirling to Norwich in May to bring in money for Papyrus, a charity for young suicide prevention, for which they have raised more than £1.4m.
Owen said: “For all of us, it’s bittersweet because the only reason we’re getting this honour is because of the work we’ve done after we’ve all lost our daughters to suicide. All three of us in a heartbeat would swap this award, this honour, to get our girls back.”
The Paralympian swimmer Rebecca Redfern, from Worcestershire, who is visually impaired and was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at seven years old, already has two Paralympic silver medals. She is going for gold in Paris this year, defying expectations she would have to give up competitive swimming after the birth of her son, who is now four. Her MBE, for visiting primary schools to talk about disability, was “a bit of a surprise” and “felt very emotional”, she said. She loved “proving people wrong”. She said: “It’s my passion to share, if you love it, why let somebody else tell you to stop.”
• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
