The two police officers who arrested the Christchurch mosque gunman during the March 2019 attacks have been awarded medals for their bravery.
Senior Constables Scott Carmody and Jim Manning revealed they believed they would lose their lives making the arrest, as they rammed his vehicle off the road.
“I was thinking, 'there’s a good likelihood we’re going to die', but I remember looking across at Scotty and thinking, ‘this guy’s got it, I’ve got it, we’ve got it - this is us’,” Manning recalled.
Eight members of the public who showed exceptional bravery in the face of extreme danger also received medals, including a roadworker who came across the scene before emergency services arrived.
Wayne Maley saved lives after putting four badly injured people on a ute heading to the hospital.
“Bullets were going all over us, didn’t really care about my safety - I just wanted to help people… even though I couldn't do a lot for people,” he said, becoming emotional.
While the medal is a huge source of pride, “hopefully, it will be a bit of a closure for me”.
“It’s been a couple years now and it’s so... so hard.”
Maley was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the events, and takes medication to help with flashbacks in the night.
He hopes to meet some of the people he helped save.
Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet Rachel Hayward said the 10 people on the list "are ordinary people who did extraordinary things".
The highest accolade, the New Zealand Cross, was awarded to Abdul Aziz for fending off the gunman with an eftpos machine; and Dr Naeem Rashid, who charged at the shooter to help others flee – a selfless act which cost him his life.
The medals will be presented in Christchurch next year.
“Those two men faced extraordinary danger and put themselves at enormous risk to save the lives of others,” Hayward said.
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