RICHMOND, Va. -- Hundreds gathered at the Valor Awards Thursday morning to salute and show gratitude for first responders who went above the call of duty.
Twenty-two recipients from seven agencies were praised for their acts of valor at the 32nd annual awards ceremony.
"I think this job is a calling, whether it's fire, EMS or police," Acting Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards explained. "And I think when you look at that, you realize when you look at the stories from today, you really see that hit home."
One story took two years to tell as Richmond Police Officers Jason Scott and Rashad Martin waited for the man who shot them in 2020 to go to court.
"When you're standing up there and you hear kind of like a third party talking about why you're here, what happened," Scott said. "You replay court, you replay the incident, you play everything and then you just kind of have to take a step back and realize, 'OK, this is the kind of like the end-of-the-tunnel-type deal.' We made it, we're happy to be here. Thankful to be here."
Scott and Martin, who just endured another surgery long after the story faded from headlines, received a silver award.
"Then you kind of you're standing up, you're hearing while you're up there," Scott said. "And it's like just a whirlwind of emotions, good or bad. But it's a great honor — and I'm just happy to be here, except something like this."
"I'm just incredibly proud of this agency," Edwards said. "And I think when you when you hear those stories, you understand the type of people that choose this profession."
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