PRIDE OF BRITAIN AWARDS HONOUR SELFLESS YOUNGSTERS
An 11-year-old boy who inspires other disabled youngsters with his upbeat outlook is among those honoured in the 20th Pride of Britain Awards.
Dante Marvin has suffered more than 100 broken bones due to brittle bone disease, but regularly speaks at events, telling audiences: "There are no disabilities, only abilities."
The heroes commended in this year's awards will be honoured by famous faces including Robert Downey Jr, Dua Lipa and the Prince of Wales.
Among the winners is 80-year-old Margaret Walker, who has dedicated her life to helping people with learning disabilities to communicate.
While working as a speech therapist at a hospital in the 1960s, Ms Walker noticed how patients with communication problems would become frustrated and disruptive when unable to express themselves.
She spent six months writing thousands of pages of notes as she analysed the staff's attempts to speak with residents.
Ms Walker found that all the patients shared around 350 essential concepts, which she developed into what became the Makaton Core Vocabulary - a unique language using signs, symbols and speech.
More than a million children and adults across the UK now use her system to communicate.
Hezron Brown, 29, is the receiver of the Prince's Trust Young Achiever award.
He suffered life-changing burns at the age of five after falling into a bath of boiling water.
Mr Brown, who suffered scarring, was bullied and left feeling isolated which eventually led him to a life of gang violence and homelessness at the age of 15.
Rather than facing a hefty prison sentence for robbery in his early 20s, a judge instead decided to give him a second chance.
Determined to turn his life around, he joined a week-long theatre programme with The Prince's Trust at the Birmingham Rep.
After impressing bosses with his dedication and work ethic, he was offered a job at the prestigious theatre.
He has spent the last seven years helping thousands of youngsters by steering them away from drugs and gang violence, going into schools and pupil referral units and talking about his journey.
A terminally-ill boy has also been recognised for raising hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund medical research so that other children will not suffer from the same disease.
Aaron Hunter, nine, raised £310,000 to fund research into ROHHAD, an extremely rare and complex disease that affects every organ within the body.
Inspired by the ice bucket challenge, Aaron came up with the muddy puddle challenge, encouraging participants to jump in puddles to raise money.
The youngster, who is unable to carry out the challenge himself, decided to make a video calling on his favourite superhero, Iron Man, to do the muddy puddle challenge.
Downey Jr, who plays Iron Man in the film franchise, was so touched by Aaron's devotion that he flew to the UK to carry out the charity puddle jump.
Host Carol Vorderman said: "Pride of Britain is such a huge part of my life, it's hard to believe it's 20 years since we first started.
"In that time, it has found a place at the heart of British life, and the winners represent the very best of us. I never fail to be humbled by them, and this year's are no different."
The Pride of Britain Award will be broadcast on ITV on November 5 at 8pm.
Published: by Radio NewsHub