PRIDE OF ST HELENS 2022: Child of Courage Award shortlist

You voted, the judges counted and here are our two shortlisted nominees for the Child of Courage Awards.

Ahead of the awards next Friday, we will be sharing profiles on each category of the awards highlighting each of the nominees.

Fearne Disbury

Born with cerebral palsy, Fearne Disbury has been a frequent visitor at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital throughout her life and has often struggled with her movement and speech.

With difficulties with her mobility, Fearne underwent a life changing operation this year to cut her spinal nerves and attempt to improve her mobility.

Fortunately, the brave seven-year-old’s operation was a huge success and she is strengthening her mobility every day.

Last year, to show their gratitude to the neurology department at Alder Hey, Fearne, family and friends, set a challenge to walk a collective 800 miles throughout October.

Raising a huge £2000, the youngsters decided to take on the challenge again and increased the target to each walk 100 miles throughout the month, while showing their support for Fearne and raising awareness of cerebral palsy.

Jake Cathcart

Jake Cathcart, from Moss Bank, was born in 2015 with a rare and undiagnosed heart condition, leading him to suffer two cardiac arrests and a respiratory arrest.

Since then he has become an inspiration for Team 1C, led by his parents and other parents who have children with cardiac issues at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, who have raised thousands to send surgeons abroad to help other children with heart defects.

Jake was doing very well, until he took a turn in November 2020 and was rushed into Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and later taken by helicopter to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

There his parents Claire and Neil were told Jake was put on the organ donor register for a new heart. After months waiting, resulting in him needing Berlin Heart surgery - the little fighter managed to get strong enough for surgery and in January 2021 underwent a heart transplant thanks to organ donation.

He also is in a unique position where he is a living donor having donated his heart valves so he could accept his new heart, therefore saving lives while his own was saved.

He’s done all of this with a smile on his face and is one truly brave little boy Tracking their mileage by walking to school, playing sports, and going out for long walks at the weekends, the group completed their 100th-mile in the fields around Portico Vine rugby club at the end of October.

Putting their “hearts and souls” into the challenge, the group smashed their original £1k target and raised more than £1400 for the physio department at Alder Hey.