Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
CHILD OF COURAGE
Galloway
HERO schoolboy Greg Galloway was stunned when TV funnyman Stephen Mulhern conjured up his idol, Youtube sensation Daz Games, to present him with a Child of Courage award.
In hilarious scenes in the Hogmanay show, Greg arrives for lunch at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, to find Stephen practising magic tricks for a new show.
He can’t believe his eyes when Stephen pulls a golden ticket with Greg’s name on it out of a flame, and leads him to a special gaming room.
But while Greg thinks he’s playing
– and losing – against his grandad, in fact he’s up against gaming superstar Daz, who is hiding behind the door.
And his reaction when Daz reveals himself is priceless.
The 11-year-old’s award is for his remarkable bravery when he saved his grandad’s life on their first fishing trip together.
Greg had just caught his first salmon from a remote stretch of the River Irvine. But as his grandad John Howe, 63, was helping him take it off the hook, he suffered a stroke and plunged into the icy fast-flowing water.
Greg, then eight, didn’t hesitate, he jumped into the river and managed to drag John out of the water and onto the bank.
But the danger was far from over – every second counted to help prevent brain damage and even death. Showing remarkable presence of mind for a young boy, Greg used John’s phone to call his mum, Jennifer.
She explained: “Somehow Greg managed to shift his papa out of the water and on to the embankment. Then he went into dad’s pocket to get his phone and call me. He told me his papa had had a fall and needed help.
“Even when he was on the phone, he kept putting it on the ground and I could hear him telling his papa, ‘Don’t go to sleep, papa’, and he was constantly reassuring dad that help was coming.”
John was rushed to hospital, and has since made a full recovery.
Jennifer added: “If Greg hadn’t been there I dread to think what might have happened.”