
Published: Mon 14 May 2018
Prince William pays tribute to NHS heroes at special event marking its 70th anniversary
Prince William will dub the NHS one of our country's greatest treasures tonight at the star-studded NHS Heroes Awards.
The royal will deliver a special tribute message at the glittering ceremony to the country's NHS staff, who he describes as truly inspirational .
Ahead of this evening's event, marking the 70th anniversary of the NHS, organisers ITV and the Mirror have unveiled the winners who will each collect an award from an array of stars, led by host Paul O'Grady, eager to celebrate their extraordinary dedication, skill and often life-changing work.
Winners drawn from the full range of frontline NHS services across the UK include an inspirational surgeon who saves the lives of knife and gun victims on a daily basis, and saved the first stabbing victim of the London Bridge terror attack, a 70-year-old midwife who has been delivering babies in remote and extreme conditions for 50 years, and a pair of doctors who pioneered a non-beating heart transplant which has saved many lives. The UK's first ever female professor of surgery will also be recognised for her incredible work across decades and for being a role-model to many other women.
Award winners also include a mother who raised more than £2m to fund cancer research after losing her son to the disease, and a teenage girl who lost her best friend in the Manchester arena terror attack, and in spite of suffering serious injuries herself, has raised thousands for the specialist unit that saved her life.
The NHS Heroes Awards will be on ITV next Monday [21 May] in a special two hour show from 8.30pm. Making it a real royal occasion for the winners, it will feature an appearance by HRH Duchess of Cornwall, who will present a special award.
And celebrities such as Michael Sheen, Dame Shirley Bassey, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Sir Tom Jones and stars from Coronation Street, Holby City, Casualty and Call The Midwife paying tribute to some truly awe-inspiring people at the glamorous red carpet event held at London's Hilton on Park Lane.
In a special message to be played at the event this evening, guests will hear Prince William say: The National Health Service is one of our countrys greatest treasures, and something we should all be immensely proud of.
Perhaps the most wonderful thing about the NHS is its people. The skill, care, and dedication that they provide every day is truly inspirational.
I would like to pay tribute to every member of NHS staff, and the wonderful volunteers who do so much to support them - we owe you all a huge thank you.
A full list of the winners is below:
Hero Doctor
Dr Martin Griffiths, 50, will receive the Hero Doctor award. The top trauma surgeon works on the A and E frontline and saves lives on a daily basis of people who have been stabbed and shot. He saved the life of the first person stabbed in the London Bridge terror attack and in a huge coincidence, had also saved the victim's father's life when he operated on his heart several years earlier.
Special Recognition
Lewis Hine, aged 17, from Portsmouth will receive the special recognition award. Lewis, who has had a life in and out hospital due to having a brain tumour, organises dances for ill teens, who like him, have missed their school prom.
Emergency Lifesaver
An emergency team who saved the life of Britain's youngest gunshot victim will receive the Emergency Lifesaver Award. James Lafferty, Sherridan Best, Caroline Appleby and Vidar Magnusson were the first on scene when in March 2011 five-year-old Thusha Kamaleswaran was shot in her uncle's shop. The team had to perform delicate emergency surgery on her while she lay in the street in South London.
Young Fundraising Hero
Freya Lewis, aged 15, from Manchester lost her best friend in the Manchester arena terror attack and was seriously injured herself. In the year since the attack, Freya and her family have raised over £40,000 to thank the medics in Royal Manchester Children's Hospital that helped to save her life. Freya is also training for a fundraising run.
Hero Nurse
Seventy-year-old Betty Macintyre from Oban has been delivering babies for over 50 years in extreme and challenging circumstances in remote parts of Scotland. She has delivered two babies on a lifeboat as well as delivering several generations of the same families.
NHS Fundraising Hero
Lynn Lucas from Newcastle will receive the NHS Fundraising Hero award for raising more than £2million to fund research into the rare cancer that killed her teenage son. The
money raised has paid for research scientists for 12 years who have made a breakthrough in medicine that slows down tumour growth.
Mental Health Champions
Dan Farnworth, age 32, and Rich Morton, 28, from Blackpool created Our Blue Light' which helps all emergency services with PTSD after traumatic rescues or attending horrific scenes.
Pioneering Hero Award
Steven Tsui and Stephen Large work in Royal Papworth Hospital and will receive the Pioneering Hero award after they made it possible to restart a non-beating heart allowing a new type of transplant. Their work means more people on the transplant register can receive a heart, saving more lives.
Special Recognition
Sara Rowbotham, age 50, from Manchester will receive the Special Recognition award. The NHS sexual health worker was the carer and confidante for the vulnerable children involved in the Rochdale grooming scandal and her evidence led to the conviction of nine child abusers.
Hero Volunteer
After having prostate cancer himself, garage mechanic Errol McKellar, 59, from London offered his male customers a discount if they got checked for the illness. He has advised 3,000 people about the disease and 46 men have been diagnose
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
23/10/2025
A deadline is looming for a new carriage deal between Verizon's Fios TV and Nexstar, with both Verizon and the pay TV-backed American Television Alliance bl...
23/10/2025
NEW YORK During a high-profile session at NAB Show New York, new survey data was shared that revealed significant public concern over artificial intelligence (A...
23/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. and NEW YORK Fox Weather has tapped T-Mobile has as its preferred communications provider and announced that all Fox Weather reporters are being...
23/10/2025
PBS and Amazon Web Services have announced the network is using generative AI to provide enhanced search results to viewers on the PBS App and PBS LearningMedia...
23/10/2025
Series three of the award winning, hit comedy entertainment series The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In is back on your screens, celebrating the very best of all t...
23/10/2025
Performances by Michael Flatley, Andy Irvine, Cuckoo's Nest, Foster and Allen and more
Friday 24 October, 8pm on RT One and RT Player
Fleadh Cheoil re...
23/10/2025
The nights grow longer and the shadows get bolder with Vampire The Masquerade: B...
22/10/2025
Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide By SVG Staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 10:06 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
22/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REM...
22/10/2025
FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production...
22/10/2025
Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Vide...
22/10/2025
Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ba...
22/10/2025
In 1995, a young Colombian artist released an album that would change Latin pop ...
22/10/2025
Over the past few months, a photovoltaic system has been installed on a three-he...
22/10/2025
The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kenn...
22/10/2025
L3Harris' Hybrid SATCOM is resilient by design, offering path diversity that eliminates vulnerabilities by routing data across the best available networks i...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. Organizers of NAB Show New York said they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countries along with 260 exhibitor...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, supplied an extensive gear package of professional-grade equipment for ...
22/10/2025
Lightware, a global leader in signal management and AV connectivity solutions, is seeing strong market momentum for the UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20, a compact transmitter-...
22/10/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has released PAINT 10.2, the latest update for its telestration platform, adding support for SMPTE ST 2110 IP workflows, expanding brandin...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON Run3TV today said NBCUniversal is joining as an investor in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, which develops the Run3TV NextGen TV application platfo...
22/10/2025
ATLANTA swXtch.io will feature two new networking solutions extending the company's reach across more cloud and on-prem workflows at NAB Show New York, set ...
22/10/2025
The Warner Bros. Discoverys HBO Max streaming services has increased prices for all its streaming tiers effectively immediately for new customers. Existing cust...
22/10/2025
LOS ANGELES OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how it...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...
22/10/2025
BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...
22/10/2025
October 22nd, 2025 TRIBECA ANNOUNCES STAR-STUDDED LINEUP OF MEMBERSHIP EVENTS F...
22/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF cooperate in drone defense Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF partner to deliver a comprehensive drone defense solution combining Rohde & S...
22/10/2025
European Broadcaster Upgrades To Grass Valley's NativeIP LDX 135 Cameras And...
22/10/2025
Everyone Gets a Better Deal on Verizon with New FOX One Perk The $15 FOX One streaming service perk is yet another way Verizon continues to add savings for cu...
22/10/2025
First Look Hidden Assets Series 3
Premieres on 9th November 9:30pm on RT One & RT Player
WATCH HERE Promo Link: Hidden Assets Series 3 | RT
The Crimin...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...
21/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: NBC Sports, NEP Build Ultra-Flexible Production Plan That Se...
21/10/2025
Indigenous storytelling has been at the heart of the work of the Sundance Instit...
21/10/2025
Top L-R: Mysterious Skin, American Dream Second Row L-R: Little Miss Sunshine, D...
21/10/2025
Last week, Spotify and Columbia Records transformed Pier 4 at the Brooklyn Army ...
21/10/2025
SBS Learn's Dharug Ngurra resource empowers classrooms to meaningfully celeb...
21/10/2025
As global operators simplify and evolve their digital platforms, NPS improvement...
21/10/2025
Critical Design Review completion is a key milestone on the path toward Wideband Global Satellite Communications certification for the network in 2026, opening ...
21/10/2025
New Australian undersea training range to implement and improve warfighting tactics, proficiency and safety; enable joint/allied training that contributes to pr...
21/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
21/10/2025
September, the beginning of autumn, brought an expected revival to the TV market, largely due to the new fall TV schedules. The time spent in front of the TV sc...