WATCH PRIDE OF SCOTLAND ON NEW YEAR’S
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.”
TV favourite Lorraine Kelly and
Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri teamed up to give inspirational schoolgirl Katie Pake a double surprise.
As Katie was leaving a London hotel with her mum, Lorraine was waiting outside to send them off to the famous Abbey Road studios, a huge treat for music fan Katie.
And during an access-all-areas tour, Sharleen told Katie she was a Pride of Scotland winner and presented her with a Gibson electric guitar, courtesy of Gear4Music.
Sharleen said of Katie: “The influence she has on other people when maybe they think things are difficult, and they look at Katie and see what she’s been through, and where she is and how she gets on with it. It’s a real honour to give her this award.”
Katie has been helping and inspiring others despite her own battle with cancer. Her parents took the keen swimmer to the GP when she complained a sore knee was affecting her performance. Tests revealed she had osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. Intensive chemotherapy failed to eradicate the tumour, and it was discovered the disease had spread to her thigh and spine. Doctors told her parents she had a 20% chance of survival.
They tried a new type of chemo, which thankfully eradicated the cancer in her thigh and spine but it did not work on the tumour on her leg. Their only option was to amputate the limb, in an operation days before her 10th birthday.
Since then, Katie has made it her mission to increase awareness of childhood cancer and has raised thousands of pounds. She’s an ambassador for the children’s cancer charity Love Oliver. Katie, who has now been given the all clear, has won gold medals at the junior and senior Scottish Disability Sport National Swimming Championships. She also plays football and is a wheelchair racer.
Mum Carol said: “Katie wants to be a champion for all children affected by cancer. She wants to swim, play football, skydive, represent Scotland in the Paralympics and maybe one day become a surgeon, like the ones who saved her life.”
“And most of all she wants to make a difference.”
Katie with her new guitar