After three Islamic terrorists in a van ran down people on London Bridge, they got out and used knives to attack people on the street. Before police responded, the terrorists noticed a pub called Black and Blue which was full of people. The pub’s bouncers saw the terrorists coming and tried to shut the doors, but the three men burst in, intent on continuing their killing spree. But instead of finding more victims, they encountered 47-year-old Roy Larner. The Sun spoke to Larner about what happened next:

He told The Sun from hospital: “They had these long knives and started shouting about Allah. Then it was, ‘Islam, Islam, Islam’. “Like an idiot I shouted back at them. I thought, ‘I need to take the p*** out of these b******s’.” “I took a few steps towards them and said, ‘F*** you, I’m Millwall’.

Millwall is an East London football club whose team is known as the Lions. One of the terrorists was reportedly wearing an Arsenal shirt during the attack. Maybe that’s what prompted Larner’s response. In any case, Larner, who admits he’d had “four or five pints” at the time, punched and fought with all three attackers while the rest of the patrons ran for the rear exit.

“I stood in front of them trying to fight them off. Everyone else ran to the back. “I was on my own against all three of them, that’s why I got hurt so much. “It was just me, trying to grab them with my bare hands and hold on. I was swinging. “I got stabbed and sliced eight times. They got me in my head, chest and both hands. There was blood everywhere.”

A couple of the terrorists got past Larner but one stayed and kept hacking at him. Eventually, they left the club to look for more victims. Larner followed them outside and watched as they headed for another nearby pub. But before they could get there, armed police arrived and fired 50 shots, killing all three terrorists.

Here are some images of Larner in the hospital. As you can see, his injuries were quite serious.

Larner is being called the Lion of London Bridge for his response and there is already a petition to award him the George Cross, which is the highest civilian award for bravery given to civilians. The George Cross recognizes, “acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger.” That certainly seems to apply in this case. Larner’s friends brought him a present while he was in the hospital. Here he is posing with it:

Larner is expected to be in the hospital for another week. As for his act of heroism, he told the Sun, “I just did what I had to do.”