IT’S your last chance to honour our healthcare heroes. Nominations for The Sun’s Who Cares Wins awards close on Friday and we’ve already been deluged with thousands of brilliant entries. But you still have two days to nominate a team or individual you think is deserving of recognition. Perhaps you contracted coronavirus and want to […]
IT’S your last chance to honour our healthcare heroes.
Nominations for The Sun’s Who Cares Wins awards close on Friday and we’ve already been deluged with thousands of brilliant entries. But you still have two days to nominate a team or individual you think is deserving of recognition.
Perhaps you contracted coronavirus and want to say thank you to the team that saved your life in extraordinary circumstances.
Or maybe you’ve been helped by a selfless carer or hospice volunteer, a porter or a cleaner.
Tell us what they did and exactly why you think they would make a worthy winner.
The winners and finalists will be invited to a glittering ceremony hosted by Davina McCall, which will be screened by Channel 4 in September.
Here, we showcase some of the best nominations we’ve received so far – and explain how you can get involved.
HAYLEY KING’S daughter Cianna was diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia when she was just a few days old. But when she told people about her little girl’s condition, often they had never heard of it.
Hayley, 35, from Reading, explained that it was a a life-threatening genetic blood disorder.
After Cianna experienced a traumatic admission into hospital, Hayley realised there was a lack of awareness about the condition. She founded Cianna’s Smile, which became a charity in 2017, to support sufferers and their families.
Hayley says that because the condition is “invisible”, sufferers are “often seen to be dramatic or even drug- seekers.
Teachers can think children are complaining of pain to get out of class, but it’s a medical emergency.”
During lockdowns, Hayley ran virtual coffee mornings and delivered wellness boxes to families.
Cianna’s Smile was nominated by Lola Olayemi, 43, from Reading, whose daughter Zara has sickle cell anaemia. Lola says: “Hayley is selfless and has helped us to overcome the fear of the diagnosis.
“Every time I call on her, she’s always there to give me advice – even if it’s the middle of the night. I trust her so much. She’s never let me down.”
AS the pandemic hit hospitals in March last year, nurse Zara Zaman, 24, answered the call for frontline carers to treat Covid patients.
Despite having no experience in critical care, Zara volunteered at Newham Hospital, East London, to help cover for colleagues caring for relatives at home.
Zara recalls: “On my ward there were nurses who were mothers or living with elderly family members. I thought, the hospital needs to pull someone from my ward and this is something I can do.
“It was such a scary time for nurses and staff, but I went for it.”
Zara shared her journey online, writing blogs and filming videos to publicise the realities of the Covid frontline to the public.
Zara, from East London, said: “I showed the realistic aspects of life as a nurse in the pandemic – from the mental health implications to fatigue and topics like burnout.”
She has now returned to her specialisation in pain management at St George’s in Tooting.
She was nominated by her manager Andrew Kelso, who said: “During this last year, Zara has gone above and beyond in her job as a nurse. She is kind, considerate, passionate and a true hero.”
AFTER Mandy Cassidy’s 18-year-old son Greg was stabbed to death, she dedicated her life to making a difference and joined the London Ambulance Service (LAS) as a dispatcher.
Mandy, 57, from Northolt, West London, said: “My son was murdered 20 years ago.
“After it happened I decided I had to do something for myself. I saw an advert for the London Ambulance Service and joined 19 years ago.”
Her “whirlwind” son was attacked in September 2001 during an argument on a night out.
Mandy started volunteering with LAS’s public education team and now spends around 30 days a year talking to schoolchildren about the dangers they may face.
“You’re the future of this country,” she tells them. “I’ve had tears. I’ve had hugs and claps from teachers and kids.
“It’s so good for them. We can actually make a difference – and that’s what I wanted to do.”
She is nominated by her former line manager Peter Crean, an LAS operational delivery manager.
Peter, 40, said: “It’s fantastic to see the sparkle in her eyes. To know that through the bad stuff she’s experienced she can share some good and create something positive from a negative experience.”
Mandy says she is “very proud” to be nominated and has vowed to continue her volunteer work.
WHEN his little brother slipped and fell into a fast-moving river, quick-thinking Lucas Palmer didn’t hesitate to act.
The youngster, then aged seven, jumped in after his two-year-old sibling, Louis- Arthur, slipped into the water in Rhymney, South Wales, while skimming stones.
Mum Kate, 32, said: “It wouldn’t have been natural for me to jump in at Lucas’s age, I would have been scared. But he didn’t even think about it.
“I think he deserves the world.”
The mum-of-three had jumped into the water herself in a bid to save her youngest child but couldn’t get close enough to grab him.
However she managed to push Louis-Arthur towards his older brother, who pulled him towards the edge and hauled him to safety.
“I am so thankful that we all survived – Lucas really is our superstar.”
Describing the incident in April 2020, Lucas, now nine, said: “He slipped and I jumped in – I am so happy for saving Louis.”
He was nominated by his other brother Lawson, five, who said: “My big brother deserves this award because he saved my baby brother from drowning.
“My big brother Lucas thought very fast and jumped in to get him. I didn’t know what to do but Lucas did – he is my hero.”
