I received a Pride of Britain for Teenager of Courage in 2014 and when I was asked to return to work at the awards eight years later as a member of the Mirror team, it was an unbelievably proud moment.
Looking back at how far I have come since I was presented with my award – and the years leading up to it – it’s hard to believe I am the same person. The Vamps, my favourite band, showed up at my school to tell me I had won the Pride of Britain award, after I’d been through four years of hell. At the time, I was recovering from a brutal six-month regime of treatment for cancer, which included radiotherapy, immunotherapy and brain surgery. I was 14 and finally beginning to get my life back on track after years of illness.
The tumours – two in my brain and two in my spine – were an extremely rare complication of the medications I have taken ever since I had a heart transplant in 2010. Born with a serious and complex congenital heart disease, I had open-heart surgery when I was 10 that went wrong. I ended up in end-stage heart failure, on full life support, hanging on by a thread.
After four months in the intensive care unit and two cardiac arrests later, the only option for me to survive was to have a heart transplant. Thankfully, my gift of life arrived after just a month at the top of the urgent transplant list. After a further three months of serious touch and go, I finally left the hospital more than 250 days after I first entered. A few years – and a kidney transplant – later, my family and I went on holiday to Turkey to celebrate the end of a long and arduous journey... one I so nearly didn’t make.
It was here that I fell ill once again and was diagnosed with cancer. Cue more terrifying moments, difficult conversations and more treatment that further wrecked my already scarred and tired body. But I made it through and, over a year after my diagnosis, I was sitting in assembly, finally getting back to some semblance of normality, and my favourite band was standing on the stage in front of me, singing my name. I was living the teenage girl’s dream!
“Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart, you’re shaking my confidence daily.” Their version of the Simon and Garfunkel hit. Then they told me I had won the Pride of Britain Teenager of Courage Award. I had grown up watching the ceremony on TV every year with glowing admiration for the amazing people celebrated on the show, so I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Just months before, I had held a fundraising event with two of my friends, where we had shaved our heads – I was going to lose my hair anyway – and raised £11,000 for the hospital which saved my life. In October of the same year, I went to the awards ceremony with my family, and was presented with my trophy by Carol Vorderman and another favourite band of mine, McBusted.
It was an evening of pure joy and love. A moment for all my family, who had been through so much with me, to relish. Possibly one of the greatest of my life. With a boost of confidence and a pep in my step, I went on to finish school then studied journalism at university. I graduated in 2020 during the pandemic, and two years later I saw an internship opportunity as a reporter for the Daily Mirror... I got the job and, 18 months later, I’m still here.
Just weeks into my new job, a buzz around the office let me know that the Pride of Britain Awards were approaching. I emailed the editor, asking if I could be of help, and wept when I found out I was going to be going back! I felt pure elation walking back down that red carpet all these years later, with my radio and earpiece.
Getting to watch that year’s winners go up on stage to receive their awards, just like I once had, was emotional but magical. It was an honour to be even a tiny part of making the awards as special as they are. I was teary for a large part of the evening – very professional, I know!
Receiving my Pride of Britain award was a defining moment in my life and so was getting my job at the Mirror. I somehow felt that all the little pieces had fallen neatly into place. I hope to help out again for the very special 25th anniversary this year. I can’t wait to see what the future brings.