Honouring Remarkable Bravery

Art lover Bill Bailey returns for a new series of Extraordinary Portraits, matching ordinary people who have extraordinary stories with some of the country's most talented portrait artists.

Civil servant Darryn was working at a prisoner rehabilitation conference at Fishmongers' Hall near London Bridge in 2019 when a knife-wielding man attacked, killing two innocent people. Grabbing a narwhal tusk mounted on a nearby wall, Darryn, with former and serving prisoners, managed to fend off the attacker, protecting others until police arrived.

Darryn was awarded a gallantry medal by the late queen, and to the outside world his actions were heroic. But the aftermath proved far more complex, and he says it has left him changed forever. Now, he dedicates his life to rehabilitation work and runs a home for former offenders, alongside one of the prisoners who stood with him on the bridge that day.

Bill believes that Nick, a gifted sculptor, would be the perfect artist to capture this remarkable man who does not see himself as a hero. But can Nick create a sculpture of Darryn that is truly three-dimensional – one that acknowledges the bravery of his actions that day as well as the emotional consequences they left behind?