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The Eastern Cape’s hero cop who led a SAPS K9 team to Turkey after a devastating earthquake has received an award from the Turkish President.
Brigadier Vimla Moodley from the SAPS K9 Unit received the award on Tuesday from President H. E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for “her incredible intervention in the Turkish earthquake.”
SAPS said it was a huge honour for South Africa and the SA Police Service.
Moodley, who is the Provincial Head of Police Emergency Services in the province, received a hero’s welcome on her return home, with provincial police management on hand to welcome her home in East London in February.
She and her team made international headlines when K9's Donna and Optimus and their handlers helped find alive an elderly woman who'd been trapped for 8 days in the rubble of a destroyed building in Hatay.
In an emotional response to the hero’s welcome, Brigadier Moodley expressed her gratitude to the Provincial Police Commissioner of the Eastern Cape for trusting her with such a huge and noble responsibility within the South African Police Service.
"Leading a South African team to a country that has experienced a devastating earthquake of such magnitude, is something I would never have taken for granted, ever.
