Meet the young sports hero who has overcome multiple disabilities to collect an award

Khovan Hussein, from Warrington, had his efforts recognised on Saturday when he received the award at the Rotary Young Citizen Awards in Birmingham.

The sports advocate was nominated for the award by Newton-le-Willows Rotary following his mission to motivate youths to participate in sports.

During his mission, Khovan was overcoming a heart condition, as well as autism and Tourette’s.

His dedication to the sports industry was greatly appreciated as he received the award from BBC TV Presenter Ellie Crisell.

Khovan receiving the Rotary Young Citizen Award

The Rotary Young Citizen Award ceremony is currently celebrating its 15th anniversary.

Being nominated, Khovan said: “It means a lot and I'm very excited about it all.  And I think that for the career I want to go for, it's definitely going to help and motivate me even more.” 

Khovan added: “Because I'm autistic, I had trouble socialising.

"So, I wanted to help others with sport and fitness because I felt I used to be a really shy kid and I thought, you know, if it made me more sociable and more outgoing, maybe it could work on others.”

Khovan found comfort in sports, particularly Brazilian Ji -Jitsu, and noticed how the activity improved his motor and social skills.

His passion for the sport was also reflected in the medals he won in competitions.  

Prior to overcoming his disabilities, it was a difficult journey for Khovan, and Shireen Hussein, his mum, explained how she had home-schooled him for a year.

Shireen said: “He didn’t know the normal social cues- if someone said hello to him, he wouldn’t reply because he didn’t get that’s what you did. It was hard but, in a way, it was better because I had less behaviours from him because he didn’t have the stressors from school.”

The mum of two described the joy she felt at the ceremony, with Khovan’s headteacher and class teacher sharing the emotional moment with Shireen as her son received his award.

Shireen said: “I couldn’t believe it, there wasn’t a dry eye between me, Juliette, and Steve- I felt like I wasn’t in the room.

“I couldn’t believe that little child who’d spent many hours hitting me, biting me, and kicking me- not through being naughty, but trying to communicate with me and make sense of things around him, standing on stage speaking to a random person he’d never met before, in front of all those people with bright lights and loud noise. I couldn’t be prouder.”

From left to right: Steve Hogarth (Khovan's class teacher), Khovan Hussein, Khovan's sister, Shireen Hussein, Julliet Doherty (Khovan's headteacher), Geoff Shaw (from Newton-le-Willows Rotary club). Picture credit: Peter Croan

Eve Conway, founder and organiser of the Rotary Young Citizen Awards, also praised Khovan for his journey and said: “This is an absolutely amazing award to go to Khovan Hussein.

"This is a massive leap for him to go on stage in front of the audience, speaking about winning this award and the challenges he faced.

“He is now using his knowledge of sport to help change other lives of young people that have faced similar problems. He is an amazing young man.”

The Rotary Award winner found sports had changed his life and is now on a mission to help others improve their quality of life through physical activities, having recently created a TikTok account explaining his journey.

Shireen also has a TikTok account to support other parents with autistic children.

During his time at Lakeside Post 16 within Wargrave House Specialist Autism School, Khovan did two work placements as an MMA coach and gym instructor, and as both are now completed, he hopes to work in these roles in the future.

Due to his achievements, Khovan has been given a lifetime free membership at HardWire Fitness & MMA, the gym he attends his No-gi BJJ.

Video credits: Eve Conway 

Shireen Hussein’s TikTok: @sugar_spice_autism

Khovan Hussein’s TikTok: @khovanh