Who is Paul Dadge? 7/7 hero who helped ‘woman in the mask’ standing as Labour MP in General Election 2017
Powerful images of Mr Dadge helping a victim who suffered severe facial burns went viral
THE "hero" famously pictured comforting a victim of the 7/7 terror attacks is back in the spotlight after launching a bid to become a politician in the General Election.
In the chaos Good Samaritan Paul Dadge was snapped helping Davina Turrell outside Edgware tube station in London on July 7 2005.
Now the 40-year-old wants to become Labour’s candidate for Cannock Chase and challenge Tory MP Amanda Milling.
Here we look at how Mr Dadge was caught up in the terror atrocity and what has happened him to since.
What's the story behind infamous 7/7 images?
Mr Dadge, then 28-years-old, was on his way to a new job at AOL at Hammersmith in West London, but was chucked off a train at Baker Street due to a “power fault”.
On route to Edgware Road station he stumbled upon the immediate aftermath of the worst terror attack to ever hit London.
Faced with people "covered in dust and with black sooted faces", he chose to stay and help out.
The part-time firefighter drew on his first aid knowledge and began helping victims in a temporary triage unit which he set up near a Marks & Spencer.
One person he was pictured comforting Ms Turrell, then aged 29, who was forced to press a white mask to her face after she suffered severe burns.
When media outlets used the image, this led to Mr Dodge being hailed a "hero" for his actions.
But he later told the that he was uncomfortable with the term and referenced the efforts of Tim Coulson who broke into a train at Edgware Road Station.
“That, to me, is a hero," he told the website.
"Not somebody who filled out a few triage cards and did a bit of first aid.”
A total of 52 people died and 700 were injured when extremists planted a series of bombs on the underground network.
What happened to Mr Dadge after the 7/7 attacks?
“On 7/7 I had a choice to help or walk away - I helped," he told .
“While I was helping that photograph was taken, and it has given me the opportunity to do things that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do."
The IT boss, who runs his own company in Staffordshire, is now a community first responder and has spoken regularly on the 7/7 attacks.
Two years ago a book of his actions on 7/7 was published, called "The Man and the Mask".
He revealed how his day can "vary between extremes", recalling one morning being sat "on the sofa with Lorraine just talking and that evening I was giving CPR to someone in cardiac arrest".
He is married to Alex and the couple have two young children Bea and Tom.
Speaking to the Mirror on the anniversary of the 7/7 attacks, he spoke about terrorism: "It’s extremely unfortunate that these things happen – and unbelievable that they happen again and that people die in such an horrific way – but you still have to live your life to the full, and lead as normal a life as possible.
"In reality these acts of terrorism just make us more resilient.”
Why has he decided to become an MP?
This is not the first time Mr Dadge has been up for election, but he failed his bid last time.
He was an independent candidate in the Hatemprice and Howden in Yorkshire by-election in 2008 up against the experienced Tory politician David Davis who had just resigned in protest at the government's counter-terrorism bill.
Mr Dadge insist that he would not be a "stereotypical politician".
"If you’re a good MP then you have got the ability to help people," he said.
"Because the word ‘help’ is a bit of a key word of mine, that is a bit of an interest."
“So if I can help people on a much bigger scale than I am currently getting to do so then that has got quite a draw for me."
Mr Dadge says he wants to fight on issues such as the NHS – including mental health and social care.
He was born and raised in Cannock where he will be contesting the election, but faces the challenge of having to overturn a Conservative majority of 5,000 if chosen as a candidate by Labour Party bosses.
