After arriving in the UK from the sunny, French-speaking Mauritius some 16 years ago, Javed Jeehoo started working at Day Lewis Pharmacy in Reigate, Surrey, and he found his calling: he is now the branch’s non-pharmacist manager and highly commended in the Infant Care Champion category to boot

Day Lewis’ pharmacy services coordinator Azimah Peeroo was in no doubt when she put Javed’s name forward, saying: “He quite literally saved the life of a young mum and her unborn baby”. She went on to explain that the woman, who was seven and half months pregnant, had come into the pharmacy saying she hadn’t felt her baby move all night. Reluctant to seek medical help, Javed took her blood pressure and, discovering that it was dangerously high, persuaded her to go to hospital with one of his colleagues. This was exactly the right decision: an emergency Caesarean section was undertaken and the lives of both mother and baby saved.

“I was just doing my job,” Javed comments. “I had to give the best care possible.” But the judges were unstinting in their praise, calling him “inspiring” and “truly incredible”.