Devon medic trainer honoured for work in Ukraine

Prof Mark Hannaford said he had been training people who had been working "tirelessly in extremely challenging conditions"

The founder of a humanitarian organisation which supports medics working in conflict zones has been honoured for his work in Ukraine.

Prof Mark Hannaford, from east Devon, was awarded a medal in September by the head of military commission in Lviv, western Ukraine, for his efforts to support and train local medical professionals in the country.

He co-founded Medics4Ukraine together with paramedic Luca Alfatti - also awarded a medal - soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The organisation has so far delivered more than £3m of medical aid to Ukraine and conducts trauma medical courses for front-line soldiers and medics.

Ukrainian medics 'true heroes'

Prof Hannaford said he was "deeply honoured" to receive the award, which was presented earlier this month.

"The true heroes are the Ukrainian medical professionals who work tirelessly in extremely challenging conditions.

"Our mission is to support them with the skills and knowledge they need to save lives."

The programme said it had trained more than 800 medical professionals and helped them respond to medical emergencies.

"We're training medical professionals who don't normally see trauma, but, due to what's going on, they're seeing it on an everyday basis.

"And we're training them in an underground bunker."

Medics4Ukraine, founded by Luca Alfatti and Mark Hannaford, who were both given awards, has delivered more than £3m worth of medical aid to Ukraine

Prof Hannaford said he was "gobsmacked" by the support Medics4Ukraine had received.

"The initiative started in Beer village," he said.

"They gave me the confidence to get going, and we set an initial target of raising £100,000.

"We are getting up to £3.5m now due to the generosity of people, largely in the South West, so we can't thank them enough."