This year's Most Inspiring Moment is a Black Lives Matter demonstrator's rescue

Every year, CNN chooses a selection of moments for the running of "Most Inspiring Moment." This year, a protester at a Black Lives Matter demonstration has taken home the accolade. Patrick Hutchinson was at a protest in London when a White man who had wandered into the demonstration was attacked. Instead of simply being a bystander, Hutchinson picked him up and brought him to safety. Photos that captured the moment were posted online, where they quickly went viral. Later, the man was identified as Bryn Male, a former police officer himself. The incident exemplified the moments of bravery and grit that exemplified 2020, CNN reports.

In an interview with the news outlet, Hutchinson, a father and grandfather, shared what was going through his mind when the incident took place. "My real focus was on avoiding a catastrophe, all of a sudden the narrative changes into 'Black Lives Matters, Youngsters Kill Protesters,'" he said. "That was the message we were trying to avoid." The moment he saw Male struggling, he and his friends formed a cordon around the former police officer as he lay on the ground. He then quickly moved in and picked him up. At the time, the demonstrator had no idea the victim of the attack was once part of police enforcement. British Transport Police identified Male at a later date.

He stated, "I have no idea who this man was. All I know is that he was there, up to no good, let's just say. He wasn't here to support Black Lives Matter." The demonstration was organized to protest statues against historical leaders with racist ties. White protesters had arrived at the location in London to "protect" the statues. Hutchinson continued, describing the experience, "I am carrying him, my friends are protecting myself and the man on my shoulder. He was still receiving blows, you can feel people trying to hit him. There were people trying to protect him at the same time carried him over to the police and I said here you are. One of them said, 'Thank you, you did a good thing there.'"

The grandfather took part in the protests because "history was in the making," he explained. It was a "no brainer" to be part of the Black Lives Matter movement. "I want to see equality for everybody," he affirmed. "I am a father, a grandfather and I would love to see my young children, my young grandchildren, my nieces, my nephews have a better world than I have lived in. The world I live in has been better than my grandparents and my parents and hopefully, we can continue until we have total equality for everyone." For all these reasons and more, the photo truly does display the most inspiring moment of 2020.

Runners-up for the accolade included salutations for frontline workers, people singing and playing instruments from their balconies to unite their neighbors during government-sanctioned lockdowns, and Gianna Floyd's statement on her father George Floyd's death: "Daddy changed the world."