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Crocodile attack twin gets bravery award from King

PA Twin sisters look at the camera. Both are wearing hats. One has a purple dress and has a medal with blue white and red ribbons pinned to it. The other woman wears a dark green jacket over a blouse. She has a crocodile shaped brooch on her jacket.PA
Georgia Laurie with her King's Gallantry Medal alongside her twin sister Melissa who she saved from the crocodile in Mexico.

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

Georgia Laurie, 31, from Sandhurst, 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.

Georgia also revealed on Instagram that she had given her twin her own "badge of honour" - in the shape of a crocodile brooch, which she pinned to Melissa's velvet jacket 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 reptile 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 wearing her award as she chatted with the monarch, alongside Melissa, in the Palace's Picture Gallery.

PA King Charles is talking with a woman with dark hair who is wearing a medal pinned to her purple dress and has a dark formal hat on her head. The medal has a blue, white and red ribbon. Alongside her is another woman who's face is obscured by a large hat. The photograph was taken inside Buckingham Palace.PA

In May, when the honour was announced, Georgia said: "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 the King held the ceremony to "honour exceptional individuals".

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