It was on March 14 this year that a woman looked at toys for the grandchildren at Ica Maxi in Olofström when she was stabbed in the stomach with life-threatening injuries as a result. A man was also attacked with a knife but managed without injuries.

Aksel Hansen, 71, was at Ica Maxi in Olofström that day. He stood looking at books when he heard a woman screaming that she had been stabbed.

For twelve years he worked as an ambulance driver in Copenhagen, which shaped his fearlessness and power of action. He therefore never hesitated to help.

He saw the woman's blood on the floor, and as soon as he saw the woman being taken care of by shop staff, he ran after the knife-armed man.

- I was going to stop him so that he did not attack more people, Aksel Hansen previously told SVT News Blekinge.

Now on that day in March, his efforts have been rewarded with the police citizen's medal for available intervention.

"We would like to extend a big thank you to Aksel for this great effort," the police wrote on their Facebook page on Friday afternoon.

It was during a ceremony on December 11 that Carina Persson, regional police chief in Region South, handed out citizen medals to Aksel Hansen and four other people.

"Common to these citizens is that they have shown great availability that has had a positive impact on the outcome of an event," says Carina Persson in a press release.

The browser is not supported

SVT does not support playback in your browser. We therefore recommend that you switch to another browser.

Learn more about browser support

You need JavaScript enabled in your browser to view this video.