United Kingdom-based Filipina senior nurse May Parsons is set to receive the George Cross Award, the highest gallantry award, on behalf of the United Kingdom’s National Health Services (NHS).
On December 8, 2020, Parsons was the first nurse to administer the COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials. The jab also kick-started the UK’s COVID-19 vaccination program. She will be awarded by the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, at Windsor Castle on July 12.
Parsons will receive the George Cross together with the NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, on behalf of the 1.5 million NHS staff working in England.
The George Cross is the highest award bestowed by the British government, given for acts of the greatest heroism or the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger. The award has equal stature to the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award in the British honors system.
In a Facebook post, Parson said that the George Cross is a fitting tribute to all of the medical workers in the communities. She is deeply honored to represent the wonderful and dedicated people within the NHS and Social Care who have shown up every day to care for people and communities despite the challenges and sacrifices they have had to make posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parsons is a nursing graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila who also worked at the UST Hospital before migrating to the UK in 2003. She is among the nearly 20,000 Filipinos who make up the staff of the NHS.
The NHS has delivered over 125 million vaccines since the first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine she first administered to then-90-year-old- Margaret Keenan. The NHS has delivered over 125 million vaccinations, including 33 million boosters and 4.2 million spring boosters.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10225686105435216&set=pb.1107220334.-2207520000..&type=3
This wasn’t the first time the British government has awarded a Filipina nurse to the NHS. In 2018, another Filipina nurse named Joy Ongcahuy received the Order of the British Empire Award for leading her team in caring for the victims of the 2017 London Bridge terrorist attacks. The OBE is conferred on those who have made significant achievements in public life.
Photo Credit: https://www.facebook.com/mayrcparsons
Source: https://guernseypress.com/news/uk-news/2022/07/12/queen-set-to-present-nhs-with-george-cross-at-windsor/, https://www.england.nhs.uk/2022/07/nhs-nurse-who-delivered-world-first-covid-jab-to-attend-george-cross-ceremony/, https://londonpe.dfa.gov.ph/embassy-news/692-filipino-nurse-honoured-with-order-of-the-british-empire-award
