This week Nathan Newby was awarded one of the country’s highest honours by the King, the George Medal. Now the public have been rising funds to buy him a car and a holiday to say thank you.
A Gofundme campaign has been launched to buy a car and a holiday for a “remarkable” hero who stopped a ‘catastrophic’ terror attack. Nathan Newby, 35, was this week presented with the George medal for bravery by the King.
His sister Natalie Newby from Leeds, along with pal Jess Shaw, has secretly set up the fundraising page as she wants to show him how “proud” she is and £2,745 has already been raised.
Her brother was vaping outside St James’s Hospital in Leeds in January 2023 when he came across Mohammad Farooq, 30, who was carrying a pressure cooker bomb and planned to massacre nurses.
But Nathan convinced the would-be bomber to move away from the entrance and hand himself in to the police after a two hour chat and a couple of cuddles.
READ MORE: ‘Terrorist talked down’, as patient told him: ‘I could be on that ward!’, court hearsREAD MORE: Hospital worker ‘ready’ to detonate bomb because he was angry with colleagues, court told
Mr Newby, speaking for the first time about his heroics this week, said: “He told me he had family and kids and I told him ‘you’re in a better place than me because I want kids and a family, but I can’t because of my health’.
“It was trying to make him feel like he was better than me. But in a way, it helped because he followed me over to the bench.”
Natalie described her brother as “courageous” and “remarkable” and said on the fundraising page: “We have not been able to speak much about the case due to the ongoing court case.
“In 2023 my brother was in St James’ hospital…Whilst outside he bravely asked a man whether he was okay because he seemed down.
“If some of you are lucky enough to know my brother you will know that he always goes out of his way to check up on people and always puts others before himself.
“Little did he know that the man he was speaking to was a nurse at the hospital and was planning to go in and activate a bomb that by evidence would have caused huge damage and many lives could have been lost.
“My brother took the time to speak to this man, just about the daily struggles of life. He sat and listened to this man for hours and gave him advice.
“Advice that was strong enough to make him change his mind and hand himself in.
“My brother doesn’t realise the impact he has made and that what he has done is truly remarkable and brave.
“If you were to ask him he’d tell me not to do this and that it’s begging for money. Even if this helps to put towards a car or holiday for him to enjoy.”
Jess Shaw, who set up the page with Natalie’s permission, hailed Nathan’s “bravery and kindness”. Before news of his George Medal was made public, she said: “This is a cause of bravery and he hasn’t been shown any appreciation or given any awards for this act of kindness. We are raising money for Nathan so he can get himself a car and holiday. “
The George Medal (GM) is a UK and Commonwealth decoration for acts of great civilian bravery, established by King George VI on September 24, 1940, during World War II.
