When Goch Kot took down a machete-wielding man randomly attacking strangers on the streets of Belconnen last year, he was quick to stress that he wasn't a hero.
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Mr Kot described himself as simply a "typical Aussie bloke", who did what anyone would have when faced with life or death.
"Leave the bravery awards for the guys who are fighting in Afghanistan, the guys who are getting shot at, not me," he said at the time.
The territory's police, however, clearly thought otherwise.
Police typically tell the public not to intervene in such situations. But they were determined to recognise Mr Kot's instinctive response, which almost certainly saved lives.
Mr Kot was handed a bravery award in a private ceremony on Thursday afternoon at ACT Policing's Belconnen headquarters, which is not far from where Mr Kot first encountered a disturbing and rapidly unfolding scene of violence.
He was in a taxi, coming home from the Socceroos world cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan in November last year.
Up ahead, on Chandler Street, he saw a driverless car slowly rolling off the road.
The driver had just been stopped by a random man who held a machete to her throat, cutting her and causing blood to start flowing from her neck.
She fended him off and jumped free of the car, before running for her life.
The attacker then turned his attention to Mr Kot's taxi.
He struck the bonnet numerous times, opened the door, and swung the weapon at the driver's face, cutting his chin.
Mr Kot got out, tackled the man, disarmed him, and, with the help of his friend John Akuak, restrained him until police arrived.
When the attacker was brought to court, prosecutors said the actions of by-standers had saved lives.
Speaking after the incident, Mr Kot was asked whether he thought himself a hero.
"I'm not a hero man, I'm just a typical Aussie bloke," he responded.
"You just do the right thing when you need to do the right thing."
Mr Kot said on Thursday he was shocked to receive the award, saying he had not thought much of his actions.
He praised the quick response of police, hoped the victims were recovering well, and said the attacker was receiving treatment for his mental health problems.
"I'm just really thankful and I'm just glad that we've got such great police that recognise all these things," he said.
"I really didn't think much of it to be honest. I just thought it was an incident of that one night and I'm going to help someone, and that was the end of it."
The man responsible for the attack is before the ACT Supreme Court facing sentencing.
