Five locals who selflessly came to the aid of those in need were honoured at the annual Bermuda Bravery Award Nominations ceremony last night at Government House, with two of the recipients receiving two awards each.

Lifeguards Andrew Shaw and Ian Morrison were honoured for rescuing a man who fell 40 feet onto the rocks at Horsehoe Bay while cliff climbing on May 29 this year. Both administered first aid to the man, who was rendered motionless by the fall, and with the aid of a spinal board they were able to remove him from the rocks. The victim has since recovered.

Mr. Morrison also received another award for his bravery on September 27, when he rescued two male swimmers who had been washed out to sea by extremely strong currents associated with Hurricane Kyle.

On the same date, Mr. Morrison's colleague, Russell Dyrli saved a female swimmer who was drowning on the same beach. This incident resulted in all beaches being closed.

Police officer Larry Dean was honoured with a bravery award for reviving a man who had a stroke while operating his boat on September 16, 2001.

And Kevin Benevides was the recipient of two awards for his acts of bravery for incidents which took place within one month of each other.

On May 4 this year, Mr. Benevides was driving along Ferry Reach when he spotted two men floating in the water near an overturned racing boat. One of the passengers had a visibly broken leg and was badly traumatised. Mr. Benevides helped to stabilise the man until medical help arrived.

Just four weeks later, on June 5, Mr. Benevides, who is the golf pro at Tucker's Point Golf Course, came to the aid of Tucker's Point groundsman Basil Outerbridge, who was pinned under a lawn tractor when it flipped over.

Using a defibrillator and CPR, Mr. Benevides and others managed to regain Mr. Outerbridge's pulse before he was transported to the hospital. Mr. Outerbridge has fully recovered from the accident.

As he congratulated the recipients for their acts of bravery, the Governor Sir John Vereker said: "I think it's always striking and wonderful when people go out of their way to save others."