Bernard Kenny is pictured paying tribute to Jo Cox at a Batley Bulldogs rugby match.

Why has the BBC headlined an article about the death of Bernard Kenny, the man who tried to stop Thomas Mair from murdering Jo Cox, by calling him a ‘hero’?

The quotation marks around the word suggest that perhaps we should not think of him in that way, when we absolutely should.

Is the BBC suggesting that he was not a hero, because he did not succeed in preventing the murder?

If so, I disagree profoundly.

It is more heroic for someone to attempt a courageous act – such as protecting another person from assault with no less than two deadly weapons – in the knowledge that the odds are against them.

Sometimes heroes fail. Sometimes heroes fall.

But they are still heroes.

Don’t try to take that away from Mr Kenny, BBC.

And don’t try to pretend that the quotation marks are only there because it’s the way Yvette Cooper described him.

It’s the way we all should be describing him. And that includes the BBC.

The man who was awarded the George Medal for trying to stop the murder of MP Jo Cox has died, his family says.

Bernard Kenny was stabbed as he intervened when Thomas Mair attacked Mrs Cox in Birstall, West Yorkshire in 2016.

Mr Kenny’s son said the 79-year-old, who was honoured in June, had died on Monday morning.

Source: Jo Cox George Medal ‘hero’ Kenny dies – BBC News

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