An Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organization team leader from Wales named John Hulse carried the torch outside Buckingham Palace for the 2012 London Olympics. Hulse was chosen as Prince William's request where the Prince himself is a patron of the Mountain Rescue in England.

On the eve of London's official 2012 Olympic Games opening, Prince Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge saw the torches light up a fire while being held by Hulse and Wai Ming-Lee from Hempstead at the Buckingham Palace. The Olympic torch was then carried out by Hulse and he was later on joined by the members of the Household Cavalry while traveling along the Constitution Hill.

"I'm greatly honored to be asked to carry the torch on behalf of Mountain Rescue England and Wales," the 56-year old team leader said before playing this important part.

Hulse has already taken part in several rescue operations in the past 30 years and he has also represented many team members across England and Wales. The chairman of OVMRO, Chris Lloyd, revealed that Prince Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chose a charity that will be represented during London's relay.

"As far as I know, three charities were picked to do the torch-carrying in and out of the Buckingham Palace. He asked for someone from Mountain Rescue England and Wales to be there. It was up to us to decide who deserved it most," Lloyd said. "For all, John has done for mountain rescue over the years, it was very fitting. It's thoroughly well-deserved," the chairman added.

According to Lloyd, the development of a callout and the logging system that is now used throughout the United Kingdom by the emergency services as well as other agencies is just one of John Hulse's remarkable mountain rescue contributions. Meanwhile, Prince William is also a helicopter search and rescue pilot that is based at the RAF Valley on Anglesey which makes the Prince have a close working relationship with OVMRO.

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