Twin who punched crocodile attacking her sister receives bravery medal from King

A woman who saved her twin sister from a crocodile attack has received her bravery medal from the King at Buckingham Palace.

Georgia Laurie, 31, from Sandhurst in Berkshire, attended a special investiture at the royal residence on Wednesday with her sister Melissa at her side.

She was among the recipients honoured in the King’s first Civilian Gallantry List and revealed on Instagram how she had given her twin her own “badge of honour” – in the shape of a crocodile brooch, as a nod to their experience, which she pinned to Melissa’s velvet jacket ready for the ceremony.

The sisters were swimming in a lagoon near Puerto Escondido in Mexico in June 2021 when Melissa was dragged underwater by the crocodile.

Georgia punched the animal in the face when it attacked, leaving both women seriously hurt but they survived after treatment.

She was awarded The King’s Gallantry Medal, which acknowledges exemplary acts of bravery, and was seen in pictures proudly wearing her award as she chatted with the monarch, alongside Melissa, in the Palace’s Picture Gallery.

Georgia said in May when her honour was announced: “I feel really privileged, it’s a silver lining to have come out of the terrible ordeal… it kind of softens the whole traumatic experience.”

She added that she would share the award with his sister: “What’s made this story so incredible is Melissa’s unwavering bravery throughout it all because she was so strong during it and I don’t think I would be here without her.

“She really gave me the strength to keep fighting.”

Buckingham Palace said Charles held the ceremony to “honour exceptional individuals”.

Others recognised at the investiture with The King’s Gallantry Medal included unarmed police officer Constable Zachary Printer, who confronted gunman Jake Davison minutes after he had shot five people dead in Keyham, Plymouth in 2021.

Also honoured were off duty police officer Constable Steven Denniss, of Lincolnshire Police, who was stabbed in the leg while apprehending a violent killer in Louth in 2021, and Lawrence Elsdon-Dew for protecting others during fierce fighting and a nine-day siege outside the British embassy in Sudan in 2023.

Among those receiving The King’s Commendation for Bravery, awarded for an act of bravery not in the presence of the enemy, were British diplomat Stephen Ellison for rescuing a stranger from a river in China, Chhaganlal Jagatia for helping to rescue people from a burning hotel in Greece, and Paul Martin for seizing a knife from an attacker who stabbed a young couple in Liverpool in 2021.