Elephas maximus

Grace O’Malley-Kumar grabbed a knife attacker to protect her friend. When he turned on her, she held on. On 13 June 2023, during the Nottingham attacks, Grace was walking back to student accommodation with her friend Barnaby Webber when a man with a large knife attacked Barnaby and brought him to the ground. Grace grabbed the attacker and tried to hold him back. The man turned the knife on her, but she kept her grip and kicked out even after he had stabbed her several times. When she fell, she tried more than once to get back up and reach him again. Grace and Barnaby both died from their injuries, aged 19. Grace had just finished her first year of medicine at the University of Nottingham, where she played hockey after representing England at under-16 and under-18 level. In October 2025, Grace was awarded the George Medal for trying to save Barnaby. That July, her name had already been on a different kind of award, the Grace O’Malley-Kumar Cup.