A Nantwich woman who works for a charity sending emergency medical aid to countries caught up in conflict or natural disaster has received The Humanitarian Medal.
Veronique Mestdagh was honoured by the King at Buckingham Palace for her role with the frontline medical aid charity UK-Med which is on call to get to disaster zones at 24 hours’ notice.
Since joining UK-Med in 2020, Veronique has deployed to Ukraine twice, Turkey in 2023 following a devastating earthquake and to Libya later that year when Storm Daniel unleased floods killing thousands.
Her medal recognised the humanitarian response to the flooding in Libya in September 2023 and the King was keen to hear more during the Investiture at Buckingham Palace.
Veronique told Nantwich News: “My role at UK-Med is Head of HR Partnering and involves deploying with UK Medical Emergency Teams to provide support and ensure that we have the right people to help our clinicians provide life-saving healthcare.
“Specifically in Libya, we responded in the wake of the floods in which an estimated 20,000 people lost their lives.
“It was great honour to be one of the first recipients of this new medal.”
Veronique, a mother of one grown up daughter, hails originally from South Africa – and the King pinpointed her accent.
She added: “Meeting His Majesty the King was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget!
“He took his time to speak to all of us, asking what we did and was so nice, putting us at our ease.
“He immediately recognised my accent from South Africa.
“I am honoured to have been chosen as a recipient of the first Humanitarian Medal and so grateful for the opportunity to meet the King.”
A resident of Nantwich for the past 18 months, she originally lived in Manchester but moved to the town after visiting with her husband and meeting its friendly people.
She added: “The people of Nantwich are so welcoming and lovely.
“The first time we visited, we knew we wanted to settle here and are so happy to have been able to do so.”
The Humanitarian Medal was also presented to UK Med colleagues for the humanitarian response to the earthquake in Morocco in September 2023 and the Gaza conflict.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty The King held an Investiture at Buckingham Palace to present honours to the first recipients of The Humanitarian Medal.
“The medal, first announced in January 2025, has been awarded to those in public service and members of humanitarian organisations, such as charities, who respond in support of human welfare during or in the aftermath of a crisis.
“This includes providing disaster relief or aid provision in hazardous circumstances such as conflict zones.”
UK-Med was born of the NHS and works towards a world where everyone has the healthcare they need when disasters hit.
It has a register of hundreds of NHS medics who are rigorously trained for emergencies and on-call to get to disaster zones at 24 hours’ notice and save lives.
For more about the charity go to www.uk-med.org
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