For TV presenter Sharon Osbourne, nine-year-old Ollie Cartwright summed up exactly
what the Pride of Britain Awards are about.
Despite his daily battle with pain, after having been born with a disfigured skull
that left his brain no room to grow, his strong, happy character prevails.
Hearing how Ollie was having his 130th operation on the day the met,
Sharon was moved almost to tears.
"Ollie's a lesson to kids everywhere - and adults too," she said. "On the days when
you feel things aren't going your way - look at what Ollie puts up with, all with
a mischievous smile."
Sharon was among nine distinguished judges who met in September with the daunting
task of selecting this year's winners.
For three months, a team of four researchers studied 20,000 accounts of heroic acts
- ranging from nominations from the public to articles in magazines, national and
regional newspapers.
They also contacted the emergency services across the UK and hundreds of charities,
inviting them to submit their own nominations.
Appeals were made in the Daily Mirror, on GMTV and in regional newspapers. Carol
Vorderman even appeared on more than 70 radio stations across the country urging
people to put forward their unsung heroes.
Chaired by the Daily Mirror's associate editor Peter Willis - who devised the awards
- the judging committee met at Sir Richard Branson's London home.
Around the table were double-Olympic gold medalist Dame Kelly Holmes, last year's
Teacher of the Year, headteacher Liz Owens, Kent Police Chief Constable Michael
Fuller, and Mirror columnist and GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips.
Sharon Osbourne, Tesco's media director Jonathan Church, Daily Mirror editor Richard
Wallace and ITN anchorman Mark Austin joined them. Dr Miriam Stoppard was an additional
consultant on medical matters.
Having covered almost every major world disaster for the last 20 years, Mark Austin
is used to tough choices and Fiona Phillips is a veteran of Pride of Britain having
sat on the panel for several years. Yet both journalists were astonished by this
year's tough decisions.
It was Michael Fuller who summed up the enormity of the occasion.
"I know from years of awarding police commendations how brave the public can be,"
he said. "But these are the only truly national awards - and they give such high-profile
recognition."
For Sharon Osbourne the awards are about celebrating the real heroes.
"This is when celebrities take a back seat and applaud the people who really should
be famous - ordinary people showing inspiring courage in extraordinary circumstances."
she said.
And for Kelly Holmes, selecting the finalists was a humbling experience. "With each
one," she said, "you have to ask yourself - could I have done the same?"
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