Sam Hills

I am nominating my son Sam. During 2008-2010 Sam was very ill and missed months of school. He had had undetected glandular fever. The fever totally wiped out Sam's ability to be a normal 11-12 year old. Sam's life was all of a sudden empty, lonely and painful. He was a well reputed super star on the football pitch, playing badminton, representing his county in athletics etc. 'Post-viral syndrome/ME' deprived him of everything. Sam suffered, not only physically but mentally too. Friends forgot about him after long-term absence from school; he was isolated, lonely and scared. After about eighteen months he slowly began to recover. He gradually made a phased return to school. In May 2010 he set himself a target to prove to himself that he was truly better and show how determined he was to get his life back. He took part in his school's sponsored walk/run and broke the school record by running 10.2 miles in 2 hours! He also raised around £50 for the school . Everyone took their hat off to Sam for inspiring others who are suffering in a similar way. True grit and self-determination got him to fully recover. Now he is back to sport with a vengeance! Sam would absolutely run his socks off if was chosen to carry the Olympic Torch. To you, his achievement might seem very small but he would be a shining light and example to any young person suffering from PVS/ME proving it is possible to recover from this, often unrecognized, evil, indiscriminate illness and return to full health.