THE Pride of St Helens awards are to take place this Friday night in a celebration of the borough's community heroes.

There will be prizes awarded in 11 categories on the night at Saints' stadium.

Here are the three nominees for the Accord Wills Child of Courage Award.

 

Katie Edington

LAST Christmas, 17-year-old Katie Edington was involved in a car crash in Sheffield with her family, which tragically led to her mum losing her life.

Katie also broke her back in the incident and was bedbound in a spinal unit for some time.

Despite the horrific circumstances, the day after Katie asked for work from school.

Even after being told she may not walk again, she dedicated herself into continuing with her schoolwork and focused her attention on working hard to achieve top marks.

That determination paid off because brave Katie, who had been told she would probably not be able to get back to school to finish her exams, actually passed all of her GCSEs. She achieved eight grade 7s and two grade 6s – the equivalent to eight As and two Bs on the old grading system.

Katie now attends Cowley Sixth Form.

She has certainly made her mum, dad and brother incredibly proud.

 

Kaycee Bradshaw

DESPITE battling a rare disease six-year-old Kaycee Bradshaw always has a smile on her face, inspiring others to help during her daily battles.

Kaycee Bradshaw, from Sutton was diagnosed with Batten disease in 2016.

Children with the condition rarely survive past the age of 12. The disease causes patients to have seizures, muscle spasms, progressive dementia and visual impairment leading to blindness. It also results in the loss of speech and mobility.

Kaycee is currently one of five children receiving an enzyme replacement treatment called cerliponase alfa, which slows the effects of the incurable condition. However, the treatment could soon be unavailable on the NHS due to costs. Her parents Claire and Greg work tirelessly alongside other parents of children with the condition to fight this law change – with Kaycee proudly cheering them on and keeping them going with her smiles and determination.

Despite her limitations, and a fight no child should have to go through, Kaycee works hard to go to school and live every day to its limit .

 

Eve Leach

EVE showed immense courage last year when aged just 14 she had to save her mum’s life.

Her mum Lee collapsed in the kitchen of their family home in Eccleston and went into cardiac arrest .

But fortunately Eve came to her rescue by calling the emergency services and her dad.

Before they arrived she managed to perform life saving CPR on her mum thanks to help from emergency crews over the phone.

This kept her mum stable until paramedics arrived at their home to take over.

She had to remain calm in what must have been a scary situation involving her mum.

But Eve took all of this in her stride and has been so modest in her selfless act.

Since then her high school has introduced emergency first aid training to their students.