Homeless rescuer staves off grin to receive gallantry medal at Palace

A homeless man who jumped into the River Thames to save a drowning woman said he tried not to “grin like a Cheshire cat” as he collected the Queen’s Gallantry Medal at Buckingham Palace.

Adan Abobaker, 39, who now lives in Northolt, stripped off and jumped into freezing water to save the woman on a wintry evening in November 2010.

After collecting his medal from the Prince of Wales, Mr Abobaker said: “It was a little nerve-wracking. I was praying I would not start grinning like a Cheshire cat but Prince Charles was an absolute charmer and gave me some nice words.”

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Mr Abobaker was treated for hypothermia and spent a month on antibiotics after he held the woman’s head to his chest until they were rescued by a safety vessel.

Despite this, he said he would not pause before doing it again. “If someone was in danger, I will help. I could not live with myself if someone died because I did nothing.”

Also picking up honours yesterday was a young war veteran who confronted an armed robber in a betting shop. He received a Queen’s Gallantry Medal.

Corporal Jason Robinson, 28, from Birmingham, was on leave after serving three tours in Iraq when he leapt into action, first shouting at the armed man threatening the Ladbrokes cashier with a gun, then chasing him down the street before taking the registration number of the getaway vehicle.

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“Thinking about it now it was stupid but it was worth it,” he said. “I got a £10,000 reward and a medal from the palace. I think the palace medal is better.”

Lewisham Deptford MP Joan Ruddock took her 92-year-old mother to watch as she became a dame. She said: “It was terrifying. I am used to being on public stages, I have been a Minister, but I was shaking just waiting in the wings.”