Kate Nesbitt

Kate Louise Nesbitt was born on 21 April 1988 in Plymouth, Devon, and joined the Royal Navy in 2005. After training as a Medical Assistant, she served with the Royal Marines and aboard HMS Nottingham before deploying to Afghanistan with 3 Commando Brigade.

On 12 March 2009, Able Seaman Nesbitt was attached to C Company, 1st Battalion, The Rifles, during operations in Helmand Province. When Lance Corporal John List was shot through the face and neck during a Taliban ambush, Nesbitt ran approximately 70 metres across exposed ground under intense enemy fire to reach him.

For about 45 minutes, she treated List while the fighting continued around them. She controlled the severe bleeding, inserted an emergency airway through his nose and kept him alive until he could be evacuated by helicopter. Her courage, medical skill and complete disregard for her own safety were credited with saving his life.

Nesbitt was awarded the Military Cross and became the first woman serving in the Royal Navy—and the second woman in the British Armed Forces—to receive the decoration. She was presented with the medal by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace on 27 November 2009.

She subsequently qualified as a naval pharmacy technician and was promoted to Chief Petty Officer. Her actions remain one of the best-known examples of medical courage under fire in the modern Royal Navy. (Royal Navy)