Pride of Britain Awards

1999 Winner Helen Smith Helen Smith was a gifted student with a bright future when she was struck by a cruel and devastating blow. She was 24 and had just started studying for a doctorate at London’s Imperial College after graduating in biology from Bath University when she was struck down with virulent meningococcal septicaemia. […]

1999 Winner Michael McNally The tragic scenes of grief, shock and devastation that followed the Omagh bombing will forever be ingrained in our memories. Twenty-nine people lost their lives and 250 were injured. Bus driver Michael McNally was one of the heroes of that terrible day. He was sitting in the bus depot when he […]

1999 Winner Rhys and Charly Daniels Rhys Daniels lost his fight for life against the crippling illness Batten’s disease just before Christmas, and his sister Charly died soon afterwards. Charly was 10 and Rhys passed a week before his eighth birthday. Towards the end, neither child could speak, hear or move. They needed round-the-clock care […]

1999 Winner Sarah Dinsdale It was a December morning when Sarah Dinsdale and her mum Diane decided to go Christmas shopping.  But their car spun out of control as it hit black ice. It plunged down a steep bank and flipped upside-down into the fast-flowing freezing currents of the River Clough. The terrified mum and […]

1999 Winner Sandra Howard Sandra Howard’s 20-year-old son Gareth is severely epileptic. When she discovered a revolutionary new treatment that was not available on the NHS, she decided to raise the money herself. The operation and the fund-raising were both a tremendous success. Gareth, 20, used to suffer up to 15 major fits every day. […]

1999 Winner Lucy-Rae Tamulevicus Lucy-Rae has endured more pain and suffering in her young life than most of us could ever imagine. She was just 10 months old when she was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer, neuroblastoma, which affects the nervous system. Doctors found a tumour in her chest, which was treated […]