BRAVERY and courage are not things young children should have to show, but for these two youngsters, they faced impossible challenges and in the face of them showed immense strength.
Because of that, this year, both Fearne Disbury and Jake Cathcart were named Child of Courage winners at the 10th annual Pride of St Helens awards.
Here are their winning stories.
Fearne
FEARNE Disbury, from Sutton, was born with Cerebral Palsy, a condition that affects movement and speech.
This created challenges that not every child faces, however, seven-year-old Fearne didn’t let these challenges stop her from having a fulfilling childhood.
The Sherdley Primary School pupil and her family and friends embarked on fundraisers to raise money for charity, including their recent one which saw them walk 100 miles each during October to raise money for the physio department at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
The challenge followed Fearne’s successful operation, as she underwent a procedure to cut her spinal nerves earlier this year to improve her mobility.
Having completed the charity challenges and undergone a life-changing surgery, winning the Child of Courage award topped off a year full of accomplishments for Fearne.
A smile never left Fearne’s face as she accepted the award that she was "very happy" to receive and looked forward to showing her friends at school.
Her parents, Emma and Robert Disbury, were visibly shocked with the announcement that Fearne had won the award.
Fearne’s dad said: "We’re so proud of her – she’s a little inspiration. She’s looked forward to this for the last few weeks and we didn’t even know she was going to be nominated; it’s a bit of a shock."
Fearne’s mum also explained how they were unfamiliar with Cerebral Palsy, and when Fearne was diagnosed, it was something new to them as well.
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Emma added: "It was World Cerebral Palsy Day, which is why we do fundraisers in October, but we didn’t even know about it because there’s hardly any awareness to it really.
"When she got diagnosed, we didn’t have a clue about it, so when we found out World Cerebral Palsy Day was in October, we decided to start doing fundraisers and have raised money ever since."
The family also shared that they will take on more charity challenges over the next year.
Jake
JAKE Cathcart is the epitome of couregous and like he said when he accepted his award - it's been 'hard work'.
Jake, 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 and other parents who have children with cardiac issues, at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, and they’ve raised thousands to send surgeons abroad to help other children with heart defects.
Jake was doing very well, until he took November 2020, when he was rushed from Alder Hey by helicopter to Great Ormond Street.
There his parents Claire and Neil were told Jake was put on the organ donor register for a new heart. After months waiting, he was strong enough for surgery and in January 2021 he underwent a heart transplant.
He also is in a unique position, having donated his heart valves so he could accept his new heart, therefore saving lives while his own was saved.
Accepting the Child of Courage Award, with their son, his proud parents Claire and Neil said: “We didn’t know if we would even be here as a family so to now be here hearing his story read out means the world. We are so proud of Jake”
Mum Claire, 42, added: “It’s so emotional hearing Jake’s story read out like that, we know he’s courageous but without the work of Great Ormond Street and Alder Hey he wouldn’t be here.
“We were all separated and didn’t know what to expect, so years on to see him accept that award just makes me even more proud of him.”
Dad Neil, 48, added: “It’s just nice to be here and celebrate him really, sometimes we are only all together when something bad happens, it’s a reminder to celebrate the good stuff like this too because we are lucky and grateful he’s here.”
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