Miniature Heroes finalists
The 10 finalists in our 2008 Miniature Heroes are: Daniel Davies, Hayley Tomlinson, Ella Mather, Alexander Eastham, Phoebe Bandcroft, Charlie-Jo Snalam-Glover, Callum Stirrup, Darren Bandcroft, Kenzie Lowe and Christopher Pope.
They are all in with a chance of winning an amazing prize of a three-night family break in Disneyland Paris.
All the finalists, voted for by our readers, will be invited to attend the grand final at Kilhey Court Hotel on Sunday, October 5 where judges will have the almost impossible task of deciding who should win the main prize.
But all our finalists will walk away with a goody bag full of prizes!
Click on the thumbnail pictures to enlarge.
Alexander Eastham
Age: 2
Nominated by: Emma Eastham
I have nominated Alexander as my Miniature Hero because he has gone through so much in his short life, and will do in the years ahead. He is such a brave little boy who fully deserves to be voted a miniature hero.
Alexander was born weighing 860g (1lb 14oz). When he was born we were given the devastating news that he had a catalogue of illnesses. He has optic nerve hypolasia, left vocal cord palsy, chronic lung disease, swallowing difficulties, two disorders of his nervous system, which are focal cortical dysplasia, and a porencephalic cyst. Alexander also has global developmental delay and speech problems.
We have not yet had a diagnosis for Alexander's condition, and we might not ever get one. Doctors tell us he is an unknown quantity and we have to take each day as it comes, as we don't know what to expect as he grows older.
At the moment Alex is two-and-a-half years old and does not speak, he will occasionally babble but the majority of the time he remains silent. He is fed via gastronomy tube as he is unable to eat or drink, again we don't know if he ever will, or the reason for it. Alex has spent the best part of his life in hospitals enduring operations and tests. He has over 10 different consultants, throughout Manchester, Liverpool and Wigan because of all his different problems.
Alex attends Rainbow House in Mawdsley twice a week for conductive education, as well as this he has hospital appointments all the time, and visits to the home from speech therapists, occupational therapists, a visual impairment teacher, a portage worker, and the complex needs community nursing team.
As you can see for yourselves Alexander has had so much to put up with in his short life and will in the years to come, and yet he is such a happy child, always smiling and laughing. He is the happiest and bravest child I know, and he is my miniature hero!
Callum Stirrup
Age: 9
Nominated by: Deb Stirrup
Callum was diagnosed with frontal lobe epilepsy in October 2007. He is not allowed to go out unsupervised - that for an active nine-year-old is very upsetting. He plays football for two teams Cherrybrook and Ashton Athletic. He has raised 1500 for Epilepsy Action doing raffles, word search and recently a sponsored dribble. He gets upset that he cannot go to the field or to the shops on his own.
Charlie-Jo Snalam-Glover
Age: 18 months
Nominated by: Janice Snalam
I think that she is a miniature hero because of her traumatic start in life. She was born at 24 weeks and 5 days gestation - we transferred to Royal Bolton Hospital for emergency C section, my placenta was dying but Charlie kept hanging on through several episodes of bleeding and losing amniotic fluid. Her heart beat stayed strong, 6th Feb 2007 she was born weighing 1lb 4oz and for the first three weeks we had to take each day as it came not knowing whether she would survive. She could have been disabled mentally or physically, the doctors had no idea but she had a better chance of survival outside of me than inside! She has endured numerous tests, blood transfusions, scans and is still under hospital supervision just to watch her progress. She is always smiling no matter what - even when she had bronchilitis and pneumonia. I know there are lots of children born premature but I think she could be someone else's inspiration or hope if they are going through the same thing that we did as a family. Also I cannot fully put into words the work of the neonantal nurses both at Wigan & Bolton, they truly are AMAZING and must see a lot of miracles as well as sad times on these units. They must have hearts of gold - to me they always have a special place in my heart. We did 100 days in both hospitals, Charlie was transferred after six weeks back home to Wigan. Whatever happens in this nomination she is quite simply my daughter Charlie Jo and is my miniature hero no matter what.
Christopher Pope
Age: 13
Nominated by: Sharon Ward
We would like to nominate our son Christopher Pope for the Miniature Heroes award. The past few months have been extremely hard for him. Our second child Matthew was still born in June, despite being devastated himself having lost the baby brother he had always wanted and had so been looking forward to, Christopher, even though distraught himself and unable to understand why it had happened, selflessly put on a brave face and remained strong throughout. Even though there were questions he wanted to ask he thought more of our feelings and did not want to add to our despair. He was a tower of strength to us on the day of his baby brother's funeral, showing more maturity than his 14 years.
The day after the funeral, a week after Matthews's birth, his mum was suddenly admitted to hospital with a life-threatening condition, pulmonary embolisms and pneumonia. In spite of what he had already been through Christopher stayed strong and courageous even though he appeared terrified every time he visited her in hospital. He realised the seriousness of the situation and still did not want to upset anyone with his own fear. He carried on as normal at school, working hard and behaving well as he knew we had enough to deal with already.
Since his mum has come out of hospital and his dad has gone back to work Christopher has been to reluctant to leave the house and spend time with his friends during the summer holidays in order to make sure his mum is ok and not alone. He would willingly forfeit his time in this way. We could not ask for a more caring and sensitive son, he has gone through a lot in the last couple of months and we are very proud of him and how he has handled things, always thinking of others before himself. He is our Miniature Hero.
Daniel Davies
Age: 10
Nominated by: Daryl and Heidi Davies
I believe that Daniel is a miniature hero because of the following:
1. He was given 2 hours to live and will be 10 this month.
2. He was diagnosed as being non-verbal but still strives to talk.
3. He was diagnosed as being blind but utilises what vision he has.
4. He was born with clenched hands but has painstakingly worked to unclench them and use them.
5. He has been resuscitated numerous times, once halfway across the Atlantic on a flight to the USA.
6. He has undergone several major operations including:
Skull rebuilt to release pressure on brain.
Gastrostomy to aid in feeding as he struggles with swallowing.
Stomach operation to avoid reflux choking
Throat operation to aid in breathing
He is susceptible to illness his whole life but fights on.
He has become my inspiration, when things are tough I look at him and his attitude to life and the fact that he never gives up or complains, which has enabled me to tackle life in a very positive way.
I am a better person because of him.
Darren Bandcroft
Age: 8 months
Nominated by: Frank Newman
Darren is eight-months-old and has lost his mother and has seven serious things wrong with him. Heart problems include Dextrocardia, Double Outlet Right Ventricle, VSD, Hypoplastic Left Ventricle and Transposed Great Vessels. Main organ problems include, Pulmonary Stenosis and RPA Stenosis.
Apart from two of the list of problems they are all to do with his heart, which he is down on a waiting list to be operated on anytime within the next two months at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool.
Ella Mather
Age: 2
Nominated by: Michelle Mather
Ella was diagnosed terminally ill at 20 months old with GM1 - Gangliosidosis, a very rare genetic disease with fewer than 1,000 children in the whole wide world at one time living with this exact condition. Ella is not expected to survive beyond her infant years. The condition is regressive and Ella is slowly losing all her abilities to do everything. She has also developed epilepsy and can no longer feed safely so has had a gastostromy feeding tube fitted. Despite all of this Ella continues to amaze us and is so happy and content, and just melts everyone's hearts with her smiles and giggles.
Hayley Tomlinson
Age: 7
Nominated by: Jean Fisher
Today Hayley is a beautiful, happy, friendly, sparkling seven-year-old girl. At the age of five, along with her siblings she was taken into care by social services being separated from her siblings as each went to a different home.
Hayley was placed with her great aunt and uncle in 2006. She arrived in their home as a very insecure, little girl, who didn't like herself and openly said things like "I don't like my face". She had no routine, no boundaries, no discipline; she was streetwise at such a tender age. Hayley suffered constant nightmares and had no self worth. Hayley's school attendance when she arrived was 30-40 per cent but her aunt and uncle could see that she was a very bright and also a very loving child in spite of all that she had experienced. Hayley's aunt went on training courses to help her deal with a child that so obviously would have many needs, armed with that and watching Super Nanny, she put lots of things into place to help Hayley put her life back together. Things like boundaries, discipline, focusing on Hayley's strengths and being positive.
Hayley had to unlearn and relearn many things in the two short years she had been with her aunt and uncle. Hayley rose to the challenge and responded very well to the positive encouragement she has received. Her attendance at school is now 100 per cent. She loves reading, dancing and singing, and she gained top marks in her SAT's.
Hayley sees her siblings regularly and has been sensitively helped to deal with saying goodbye to her one-year-old brother who has just been adopted. When Hayley kissed him goodbye she said, "goodbye, see you when your 18".
Hayley has become a very friendly considerate little girl and has rightly made lots of new friends. Hayley's life has completely turned upside down in a good way and she is becoming the bright and shining star that her aunt first saw in her when she took her in. Hayley's aunt and uncle have now become her legal guardians and if ever there is a 'giant hero' award to be had, her aunt and uncle deserve it!Kenzie Lowe
Age: 18 months
Nominated by: Carly Lowe
I am nominating my son in this competition as my Grandad passed away on the 23rd May 2008. We are a close family and I don't know what my Grandma and the rest of the family would have done without him. He has kept my Grandma going by making her laugh all the time. This has been a really hard time for my grandma and all the family and Kenzie has been a little star for everyone.
Pheobe Bandcroft
Age: 7
Nominated by: Frank Newman
Pheobe has had a lot to deal with, with the passing of her mother and with all the problems with her brother Darren, and all the visits to Alder Hey over the last eight months and all the visits to come.
She has been so strong over the whole situation that I don't know how she has coped with it all, but she has and I'm very proud of her.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wigan
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: West
