HIS actions during a Taliban firefight seven years ago have led to Rainbow Flat man, Joel Donkin being awarded a commendation for bravery.
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Joel accepted the award during a lavish presentation held at Government House in Sydney last month.
Joel's wife Sandra said it was "a moving ceremony," with Joel recognised alongside emergency services personnel and everyday heroes from around the country.
Sandy said there "wasn't a dry eye in the house" during several of the presentations as recipients' citations were read out during the ceremony.
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Joel was working for the United Nations as a paramedic in 2009 when he was pitched into the middle of a Taliban firefight in Kabul, Afghanistan.
In an attempt to disrupt Afghan presidential elections, Taliban suicide bombers stormed the Bakhar Guesthouse, killing 12 people including six UN employees.
Joel and another colleague arrived at the site soon after the attack commenced and were forced to take cover from gunfire before being held at gunpoint by a nervous Afghan soldier.
With sporadic gunfire still present, Joel and his colleague secured and protected the bodies of their UN colleagues until police arrived and ended the attack.
After the attack Joel and his colleague discovered that another UN worker's body had been taken to a military hospital.
They located the victim and drove the body through the city in an unprotected vehicle to a safe location.
In an interview with the Times in 2015, Joel said that while he felt honoured and proud to receive the award, he did feel saddened by the reasons for it, and said he was "just doing my job".
Joel's experience as a nurse has also seen him visit Sierra Leone working to combat the Ebola virus that tore through the country in late 2014. He arrived back in Australia from his third stint there in September 2015.
The NSW Governor was unable to officiate the awards ceremony for only the second time since 1946, with the Lieutenant Governor filling in.
lachlan.leeming@fairfaxmedia.com.au