West Midlands firefighter among first recipients of new humanitarian medal

Shyam Rana has been recognised for his response on behalf of the UK to the Morocco Earthquake in 2023

Author: By Kellie Maddox, Bauer Media and Harry Stedman, PAPublished 30th Jan 2025
Last updated 30th Jan 2025

An aid worker from the West Midlands has said he is "humbled" after being awarded a new medal honouring his work during major humanitarian crises.

Shyam Rana is among the first three people to have been recognised with the Humanitarian Medal for their responses on behalf of the United Kingdom to the Morocco Earthquake, the floods in Libya and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Mr Rana, 55, from Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, was operations commander for the UK International Search and Rescue (ISAR) team in Morocco, helping to search and rescue people under collapsed buildings.

At home he works for the West Midlands Fire Service Technical Rescue unit in Birmingham.

Reacting to the medal, he said: "It's a huge honour for me. It's a humbling experience, really.

"I'm coming towards the end of a 27-year career in the fire service, 19 of which have been in the ISAR team. I've been deployed all over the world to seven international rescue missions, and I'm just about to leave all that behind, so this really crowns a lifetime of service."

Mr Rana said his ISAR team, comprising more than 60 members, was on the ground in Morocco searching for victims of the earthquake within 18 hours of receiving the initial call.

The searches included villages deep in the Atlas Mountains, where on one occasion the crew was forced to sleep rough overnight due to its remoteness.

Mr Rana said: "In the UK, we go to house fires or building collapses that involve one or two people. On these international disasters it's in the tens or hundreds of thousands of people who are dead or have lost their homes and their loved ones, and are without any support.

"It's hugely rewarding for us, but it takes its toll. When you see devastation on this magnitude, it puts you in a different mindset. It makes you want to come back and do more of this work."

Mr Rana said his humanitarian work made him "incredibly proud", adding: "This work needs to go on.

"When you save people in other countries in their time of need we build relationships, whether they're political or economic, and those people don't forget that. They don't forget the things that you do for them."

The medal's design features an image of the King on one side and the words 'for humanitarian service' interwoven with a laurel wreath on the other.

It is decorated with a multi-coloured ribbon which aims to reflect "the different paths for humanitarian service and the variety of services involved in such responses", according to the Cabinet Office.

Government departments make recommendations for eligible Humanitarian responses before medal awards are submitted to the King for approval.

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.

Rayo PremiumRayo Premium

Hits Radio in the Mix

Hits Radio (Birmingham)