A Perth hero will rub shoulders with world leaders, celebrities and royalty after he was invited to attend the King’s coronation having helped save countless lives during the Covid pandemic.
British Red Cross volunteer Richard Stibbles BEM left home at the start of the crisis in 2020 to do three deployments in London working minimum 10 hour days transporting patients with coronavirus to hospital, care homes or back to their families.
Having stepped in after NHS ambulance crews struggled to cope with demand, Richard’s heroics came at a cost as he himself contracted the virus.
It floored him and he spent months in hospital, first down in London and then at Perth Royal Infirmary.
Richard even had to fully relearn to walk again - but that did not stop him.
The determined 42-year-old returned to the front line and his heroics earned him a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Year Honours List 2020 and a Red Cross award for exceptional contribution.
Despite his herculean achievements, Richard, who joined the Red Cross at the age of 10 and has been a volunteer ever since, still could not believe his eyes when he first received an email from Buckingham Palace earlier this month with the official coronation invitation.
“It is an honour,” he said.
“I got the email from the palace and then received the invite three or four days ago.
“I’m staying with family in London and then on the morning of the coronation I have got to be in the Westminster area for 7am.
“The service is nearer lunchtime but we are there earlier so people can be brought in in an orderly manner and for security checks. It will be quite an experience.”
Reflecting on why he was invited, Richard said: “I come from a background of nursing and care work.
“I very quickly realised that the NHS and ambulance service were struggling to meet the demand of Covid.
“I did a few deployments in London and the shifts varied from 10 hours to a lot longer than that.
“The only time off I had were Sundays. It is working conditions I have never experienced in my life and I don’t hope to experience it again.
“You are in a little ambulance that is like a greenhouse in London temperatures of 35 degrees celsius with about two or three layers of protective uniform underneath and then polythene aprons and then visors and goggles and masks.
“To be in those conditions for those levels of hours was mentally, physically and emotionally challenging to say the least.
“For us and everybody across the board it was a nerve-wracking experience on top of the nerves and the fact there was no vaccine at that point.
“Then I took quite fiercely unwell and had to recover from long Covid and I still am. I went back to volunteering again.
“It was a surreal experience that I will never forget and I hope to god I, and anyone else, never have to be in that position again. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”
Richard is one of 450 British Empire Medal recipients who will join the 2000 attendees at the ceremony conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
And he will be surrounded by many famous figures including royals from across the world.
King Charles III’s coronation guest list includes Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, First Minister Humza Yousaf, French President Emmanuel Macron and US First Lady Jill Biden. Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, and singer Lionel Richie will be there with David and Victoria Beckham, Joanna Lumley and Rowan Atkinson also rumoured to attend the Abbey.
Richard revealed: “When I got the email I thought ‘this can’t possibly be’ because there are presidents, royal family from around the world, celebrities and a variety of politicians and important figureheads there.
“There are only 2000 invited and that is not a huge dent on the amount of people in the world of importance as such that could be invited.
“So to be one of those people is mind-blowing.
“There is an honour and a privilege to receive it and a surprise I was invited.
“I never expected it at all.”
