Jake Cassidy
Teenager Jake Cassidy inspires others by overcoming obstacles and raising hundreds of pounds for charity, all while managing his own condition.
The 13-year-old has suffered from a chronic bowel condition since birth. At the age of five he was further diagnosed with coeliac disease. He was eventually fitted with an antegrade continence enema (ACE) stoma, but when complications arose he was told he would have to have his bowel removed.
Just five months after having his bowel removed he climbed Mount Snowdon to raise money for ERIC, a charity dedicated to improving children’s bowel and bladder health.
He also raised £700 for dolls fitted with stomas for those suffering from similar conditions, helping them feel less alone.
Jake’s mother, Danielle, said: “It’s really good of him. I’ve seen how this doll has helped Jake, and even if it puts a smile on a child’s face, that’s enough. It’s scary for children and they think it’s only them.”
Jake loves football and is a goalkeeper for his local team. Despite regular hospital visits he has never missed a game and was named Manager’s Player of the Year. He also loves cycling with his friends.
Sarah Jones has nominated Jake as a Child of Courage in the Your Heroes Awards.
She said: “Jake is an amazing young lad. He’s had, and still has, so many health problems and now has a stoma bag, but he never gives up.
“He’s the goalkeeper in my son’s football team and turns up for training and matches even when he’s feeling weak. On many occasions he has come straight from the hospital, discharging himself because he doesn’t want to let his team down.
“He always has a smile on his face and doesn’t show that he’s suffering. His mum and Jake have set up a page, Jake’s Stoma Journey, to highlight the highs and lows of Jake’s illnesses and how they can affect his day-to-day life.
“He is so inspirational to the other kids but also to the adults around him, showing that anything is possible.”
Jake’s mum, Danielle, said: “This is brilliant. It’s really nice for him to be nominated and recognised. He’s had such an impact on people already, so it’s amazing to hear he’s been thought of in this way.”
Ronnie Sharp
Meet Ronnie Sharp. He’s just seven years old and he’s saved his mum’s life.
Ronnie was home alone with his type one diabetic mum when she became hypoglycaemic and fell unconscious.
He sent a message to his grandma via his iPad, followed her instructions and let an ambulance crew into his Uttoxeter home.
Ronnie’s grandma, who lives a four-and-a-half-hour train journey away, is convinced that he saved his mum’s life and has nominated him as a Child of Courage in the Your Heroes Awards.
She said: “Ronnie contacted me via a message on his iPad saying I can’t wake up mummy, she’s been asleep for four hours and I’m really hungry. My daughter is a single mum and it’s just the two of them at home.
“I asked him to go and knock on the neighbour’s door but there was nobody there. He kept telling me that he was really hungry and couldn’t wake mummy.
“I told him I’d take him for the biggest McDonald’s if he could try to wake his mum. I asked him if he could see her tummy moving up and down and he said he couldn’t.
“The battery was flat on my daughter’s phone so I wasn’t able to call Ronnie on that and I also knew she must have been asleep for some time.”
While trying to reassure Ronnie via messages and encourage him to knock on the door of other neighbours his grandma, Joanne Mason, was on the phone at her home in Berkshire asking for an ambulance and the police to be sent to Ronnie and Bethanie in Staffordshire.
“Ronnie was calm and collected but he also told me that he was really, really scared. Ronnie is a big fan of the Marvel superhero Black Panther so I told him that he’s braver than Black Panther.”
He followed instructions to find his mum’s sugar tester, to let paramedics into the house and to show them a message with his grandma’s phone number so that she could talk to them directly and pass on Bethanie’s medical history.
Joanne said: “There are no words to describe how proud I am of Ronnie. He’s superb. His mum was a heartbeat away from being in a coma. I’m just bursting with pride – he saved his mum’s life.”
Ronnie is to be given a mobile phone of his own so that if his mum becomes ill again it’ll be easier for him to ask for help.
Mia Hughes
When Toni Wedgwood went into anaphylactic shock after being stung by a bee her 11-year-old daughter, Mia Hughes, literally saved her life.
The Waterhayes schoolgirl recognised what had happened, raced to get an EpiPen, injected her mum and found an adult to call an ambulance.
Primary school teacher Toni, aged 30, was administered six rounds of adrenaline, needed to be resuscitated and ended up in intensive care.
Doctors have said Toni would have died without her daughter’s quick intervention and that Mia, a pupil at St Chad’s Primary in Red Street, would make an excellent doctor one day.
Three weeks later Toni is back at work at Burnwood Community School in Chell Heath, carries an EpiPen wherever she goes and feels incredibly lucky.
She said: “Without a doubt, without Mia I wouldn’t be here. The doctors told me that without her I would have died.
“I didn’t realise I’d been stung. I thought I was out of breath because I was really unfit. It was Mia who spotted the wasp on my leggings. She saved my life.
“I’m so incredibly proud of her. I know she would have done exactly the same thing for anyone else. She does a swimming lifesaving class and when I told then what had happened they weren’t surprised.”
The incident happened during the short walk home from Toni’s mum’s house.
She recalls: “We were about two or three minutes from home when I started to feel unwell but wasn’t really sure why.
“I went to cross the road but Mia pulled me back and told me my lips were turning blue. I couldn’t breathe to answer her.
“She saw a bee had stung me through my leggings, flicked the bee off me and told me I’d been stung. I knew I’d react to a wasp sting but I’d never been stung by a bee before.
“Mia ran from where I was to our house, got an EpiPen and alerted my partner. Mia injected me and my partner rang for the ambulance.”
Mia’s school recognised her actions in an assembly and told classmates that she has attributes they should all aspire to.
On July 28 Mia will take part in the Stoke-on-Trent Pretty Muddy Kids 2024 in aid of Cancer Research UK. She has already raised £70.
Now Toni has nominated Mia in the Child of Courage category of the Your Heroes Awards.
She added: “She’s a remarkable girl. She’s so kind and wants to help everyone.”