in the presence of a hero

I watched the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year competition and went to the National Portrait Gallery to see the paintings. And .... the winning artist and winning sitter sauntered into the room! The winner is Nick Lord, and the sitter is Johnson Beharry - it was an amazing moment, and they were both very gracious to all the rampant photographers there.

Taken from Wikipedia - "Sergeant Johnson Gideon Beharry VC (born 26 July 1979) of the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, is a British Army soldier who, on 18 March 2005, was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for valour in the British and Commonwealth armed forces, for twice saving members of his unit from ambushes on 1 May and again on 11 June 2004 at Al-Amarah, Iraq. He sustained serious head injuries in the latter engagement. Beharry was formally invested with the Victoria Cross by Queen Elizabeth II on 27 April 2005."