True bravery rewarded

This year £2,000 has been distributed to four children who have shown courage and dedication in the face of adversity.

Nearly £40,000 has been given out during the scheme's existence to honour the bravery of ill and disabled people.

Eileen Ryan, widow of former deputy head teacher Danny Ryan, who died in 1985, will present the awards at a special ceremony on November 11 at the school.

Here, Keighley News reporter Paul Cook speaks to the recipients of this year's awards.

Daniel Mulcahy

For 14 years, Daniel Mulcahy has lived with a syndrome which affects his internal organs. But as he starts the most important part of his school career, he has had to take a lot of time off.

Daniel, from Beechcliffe, was born with Varta Syndrome.

He had a kidney removed at the age of two because of septicaemia, and has been in and out of hospital for various operations.

Last year he underwent surgery again and has not been able to return to Holy Family School since.

His mum Dee, who works at the school, said: "I think he is getting down with it. He wants to be back at school.

"He is like a patchwork quilt."

Since January he has regularly moved between Airedale Hospital, Leeds General Infirmary and St James' Hospital.

Dee added: "He has been generally brilliant with it. But now he is old enough to say he doesn't want this or that.

"This year has been very hard. He is supposed to be starting his GCSE studies this year."

Daniel, who is 15 next month, is a big car fan and a regularly reader of Evo magazine.

One of his idols is Jeremy Clarkson, and he wants to follow in his footsteps and become a motor journalist.

He wants to put some of the money towards a new XBox, which he plays regularly.

Rebekah Spencer

Despite having severe asthma, Rebekah Spencer has not stopped playing her beloved sport of football.

The sports-mad 13-year-old had an extreme attack in June which resulted in a week-long stay in Leeds General Infirmary.

But brave Rebekah has since returned to sporting action at Holy Family School.

Her grandma, Rita Curley, said: "She has just had one really bad asthma attack.

"Whatever we gave her wasn't working and we couldn't get her breath back.

"She went to Airedale Hospital first and on to Leeds, where she was unconscious."

Despite her illness, Rebekah has returned to school this year and is already playing football during PE lessons.

Rebekah, from Whin Knoll Avenue, said: "It slowed me down. I was really tired at first."

The teenager has struggled with severe asthma from an early age and she has to be careful what she does.

But she played in midfield in the football team at St Anne's School before she moved to Holy Family. She is also a regular on the terraces at Cougar Park with her mum Andrea to support the Cougars.

Rebekah also loves to walk her grandma's dog, a five-year-old Cocker Spaniel, Abbey.

Her grandma added: "The school was extremely good and said prayers for her when she was in hospital."

Rebekah said she felt honoured to have been nominated for the award and is now playing a holiday in the spring to Benidorm with her mum.

Megan Spencer

When she arrived by emergency Caesarean section on July 3, 1998, Megan Spencer (above) was six weeks early.

Doctors soon discovered she had Down's Syndrome, breathing difficulties, a hole in her heart, an irregular heartbeat and was unable to suck a bottle.

For eight weeks, Megan, from Skipton, was fed by a nasal gastric tube until she could feed by normal means.

Not long after, Megan was found to have significant sight and hearing problems.

Her mother Tracy took a crash course to teach her Makaton sign language.

The seven-year-old also needed lots of physiotherapy at Airedale Hospital, as well as at home to strengthen her muscles.

By two she could sit. A year later she could walk with the help of a walking frame and special Piedro boots.

Then she learnt to run and jump.

Tracy said: "At four years of age, she joined the West Yorkshire Dance Academy taking ballet lessons, and although several years on she is still in the same class, she has worked very hard and is well on her way."

Megan, who is at Brooklands Community Special School, is next due to have hearing aids fitted.

Tracy added: "She is well liked among her peers and has many friends both in school and in our local community.

"She is a very loving and sociable little girl who brings sunshine into the lives of those around her. We are all in a bit of whirl about the awards. We are just flattered that she was nominated and that she is one of the finalists."

Martin Scott

In a short space of time, Martin Scott had some of the toughest but most important weeks of his life.

Martin, from Otley, first took his GCSEs at St Mary's School, in Menston, before he had the second kidney transplant of his life.

Before he was born a scan revealed that there was bladder and kidney damage.

But his mother, Helen, refused to have the abortion she was offered.

Instead she took several trips to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital so the baby could receive surgery while he was still in the womb.

After he was born, Martin needed regular dialysis until he received a kidney transplant at the age of six.

Five years ago this kidney failed, meaning Martin, now 16, had to undergo more dialysis until his transplant in July.

Helen said: "The transplant gives him a break from the dialysis. This is just another treatment and will give him a new lease of life. Martin just gets on with life. He doesn't let it get him down. It is something he has always coped with."

Following the second transplant, Martin is trying to get back into school to retake his GCSEs, in which he recorded five Ds.

Helen added: "He missed so much schooling."

Martin's other passions are cars -- he wants to become a mechanic -- and the Leeds Rhinos.