Dotty's Fred gets a medal

DOROTHY Edwards was told so many times that her husband Fred “deserved a medal” for taking care of her that she decided to have him one made.

Mrs Edwards, 83, and her husband live in Haughley, near Stowmarket, and have been married for 60 years but in recent times she has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes and is increasingly unable to care for herself.

Mr Edwards, 80, now finds himself doing many day to day things for his wife, and she decided to say “thank you” to him in the clearest of ways.

She said: “Over the last two or three years people have been saying to me that my husband deserves a medal because he's been looking after me - and I thought 'that's a good idea'.

“On it, it says 'Fred - the Best Carer' because he cares for me and looks after me, because I'm disabled.”

The medal was presented to Mr Edwards by Alison Morris, manager of Stowmarket's branch of Britannia and she said they were a “lovely couple” and she was proud to have been asked.

After being given the medal - complete with yellow and green ribbons, for a lifelong Norwich City fan - Mr Edwards said he didn't know what he had done to deserve it.

He said: “It just comes naturally - I have had no special training. She can't do much for herself now. We are very dedicated to each other - we wouldn't have been together for so long if we weren't.

“I never expected it - I don't know what I have done to deserve it.”

Mr Edwards, known by his wife and others as “Dad”, said he was particularly pleased to see so many neighbours and friends turn up at the presentation.

The couple have four children, 11 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, and Mrs Edwards said they visited the branch every Thursday and chose Mrs Morris to present the medal because the staff were always so friendly to them.

She added: “I think the world of him. He does everything for me - he's a carer, a gardener and a marvellous cook, most of all. He's my magic man.”

EVERYONE knows about the Nobel Prize, the Academy Awards and the FIFA World Cup, but medals and trophies are also handed out for some rather more unusual achievements.

The Razzie Awards are Oscar's ugly sisters and commend all things awful in the movie industry, while the Turnip Prize was created as an “antidote” for conceptual art contest the Turner Prize.

But it's not only humans are presented with gongs - the Dickin Medal honours the work of animals at war and was first awarded to a brave messenger pigeon, named Winkie, in 1949.

In Australia, the Douglas Wilkie Medal is presented to the person who “does the least” for Australian Rules Football every year, while the title of “Mr Irrelevant” is given to the last pick of the annual NFL draft in America.

Up until 2003 the British Pipesmokers' Council also bestowed the honour of Pipe Smoker of the Year, however Stephen Fry was the last to pick up the award after the title was abandoned because the council feared it fell foul of new laws on tobacco promotion.