Buckingham Palace award for Steve’s sea rescue

The medal was awarded to him for risking his own life in a sea drama in which one teenage boy was drowned but in which Steven – although not a strong swimmer - managed to save the life of an 11-year-old boy.

Steven was in New Zealand in early 2012 for a holiday and to visit his son. When at O'Neill Bay, a dangerous and unpatrolled beach in West Aukland, Steve witnessed a brother and sister aged seven and 11 getting into trouble in the water. The girl was swept out to sea but her father and a 15-year-old boy – who was then swept to his own death by the rip tide – saved her.  In the meantime Steven saw the other boy in trouble and went into the water after him.

Talking after receiving his medal Steven, who went to the Palace with his wife Nancy and daughter Thomasin, said: “We knew the sea around there was dangerous and had been told to stay out of the water. However it was our first day there and we wanted to look at that part of the coast.

“I certainly never dreamed that when we went off on holiday it would lead to me ending up at Buckingham Palace receiving a medal. I’m just grateful the boy was saved but it is desperately sad that another boy lost his life that day; he was awarded a silver medal posthumously.”