An Altrincham surgeon who was nearly killed in a knife attack outside a Hale mosque has been awarded an MBE for his work promoting peace and forgiveness.
Dr Nasser Kurdy, 66, has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours list for services to Community Interfaith Reconciliation following more than two decades of work building bridges between different faiths.
The orthopaedic surgeon was stabbed in the back of the neck as he arrived at the Altrincham & Hale Muslim Association (AHMA) centre on Grove Lane in September 2017.
Ian Rooke, then 29 and of no fixed abode, attacked Dr Kurdy from behind, leaving him with a two-inch stab wound. The father of three was treated in hospital and discharged shortly after. Rooke was jailed for five years and four months at Manchester Crown Court after admitting wounding with intent and possessing an offensive weapon.
Following the attack, Dr Kurdy said the ordeal had made him a better person and expressed hope to be involved in his attacker’s rehabilitation.
He has since founded I4giveH8, delivering talks on forgiveness to schools, community groups and prisons, including through the Sycamore Tree restorative justice programme.
Dr Kurdy served as lay imam at AHMA from the early 2000s until 2022, regularly delivering Friday sermons and leading Islamic study circles.
For the past eight years, he has worked to strengthen ties between Muslim and Jewish communities in South Manchester. Since 2021, he has been a trustee of Friends of Roots UK, supporting reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, and has helped raise over £20,000 in food aid for Palestinian families.
Dr Kurdy was one of a number of Greater Manchester-based people to receive awards.
Here is the full list:
Damehoods
- Dr Fiona Elizabeth Rayment OBE FREng FRSE (Greater Manchester) - DBE for services to Nuclear Engineering
CBEs (Commanders of the Order of the British Empire)
- Kathrine Helen Cowell OBE DL (Cheshire) - Chair, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust - services to the NHS
- Julia Fawcett OBE (Greater Manchester) - CEO of The Lowry - services to Art and Creative Industry
- Professor Martin James Humphries FMedSci (Cheshire) - Professor of Biochemistry, University of Manchester - services to Bioscience
- Linda Susan Jones (Cheshire) - CEO, Prospere Learning Trust - services to Education
OBEs (Officers of the Order of the British Empire)
- Beverley Anne Craig (Greater Manchester) - Leader of Manchester City Council - services to Local Government
- Julia Catherine Heap (Greater Manchester) - Principal & CEO, Hopwood Hall College - services to Further Education
- Dr Jonathan Hague (Cheshire) - Unilever Executive & Chair, Liverpool City Region Innovation Board
- Dr Wyn Gwilym Jones (Greater Manchester) - Prison Governor, HM Prison Fosse Way
- Ian Lee Merrill (Greater Manchester) - CEO of The Shannon Trust - services to Rehabilitation
- Gaynor Alison Rennie (Greater Manchester) - Headteacher, All Souls CE Primary School, Heywood
- Professor Alan Keith Boyd FMedSci (Cheshire) - services to Gene Therapy and Medical Education
- Susan Clare Briegal (Cheshire) - CEO World Netball & Chair, North West Rowing Council - services to Sport
- Professor Peter Farrell (Cheshire) - Construction Professor, University of Greater Manchester
- Alex Greenwood (Cheshire) - services to Association Football
MBEs (Members of the Order of the British Empire)
- David Llewellyn Barrington (Greater Manchester) - services to Mountain Rescue in Cumbria and the Lake District
- Georgina Burrows (Greater Manchester) - Senior Teacher, Rumworth School, Bolton - services to Education
- Peter Fitzpatrick (Greater Manchester) - Station Manager, Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service - services to Burn Victims
- Phillip Gould-Bourn (Greater Manchester) - services to the community in Cheadle
- Dr Maeve Geraldine Louise Keaney (Greater Manchester) - Founder, Refugee and Asylum Seekers Centre for Healthcare Professionals Education - services to Refugee Doctors
- Dr Nasser Kurdy (Greater Manchester) - services to Community Interfaith Reconciliation
- Philip John Marsh (Greater Manchester) - Head of Openings, OnSide - services to Young People
- Professor Andrew McMillan (Greater Manchester) - Poet and Novelist - services to Literature
- Bernard Owen Morgan (Cheshire) - Volunteer, Imperial War Museum - services to Volunteering and History
- John Pickford (Greater Manchester) - News Editor In Chief, Bauer Media - services to Broadcasting and Local News
- Kylie Melissa Spark (Greater Manchester) - CEO, Inspiring Learners Multi-Academy Trust, Cheshire - services to Education
- Bernard Stevens (Greater Manchester) - services to Mountain Rescue in Kinder
- Margaret Rose Thompson (Greater Manchester) - services to Girlguiding
- Ella Ann Toone (Greater Manchester) - services to Association Football
- Keira Fae Walsh (Greater Manchester) - services to Association Football
- Margaret Clarke (Cheshire) - Foster Carer - services to Foster Care
- Dr Dorothy Joan Clayton (Greater Manchester) - Volunteer, St John Ambulance County Priory - Voluntary Service
- Rev David Stephen Ireland (Greater Manchester) - CEO, Francis House Children's Hospice - services to Children's Hospices
- Jacqueline Lowe (Greater Manchester) - Foster Carer, St Helens Borough Council - services to Foster Care
- Geoffrey Wellens (Cheshire) - services to Heritage and community in Middleton
- Gail Elizabeth Wood (Greater Manchester) - Fundraiser, Cancer Research UK - Charitable Services
BEMs (British Empire Medals)
- Nigel James Travis BEM (Greater Manchester) - services to Boxing and the community in Moss Side
- Ian Malcolm Sandiford JP DL (Greater Manchester) - services to the community in Rochdale
- Olwyn Taylor (Greater Manchester) - services to the community in Debdale Park, Gorton
- David Martin Tomlinson (Greater Manchester) - Co-Founder, Chair of Trustees and Project Manager, Acting on Impulse - services to the community in Greater Manchester
- Suzan Lorelle Tomlinson (Greater Manchester) - Co-Founder and Project Manager, Acting on Impulse - services to the community in Greater Manchester
- Mark John Whittaker (Greater Manchester) - services to the community in Marple
