Braveheart Paul to be honoured with award

Near the end, Paul drew up a "bucket list" of feats to accomplish before he died and planned his own funeral. He even helped to design a memorial bench for his school. Such was his resilience throughout the ordeal, the Davies family gave him the nickname Braveheart.

Now the Currie teenager is to receive a posthumous prize highlighting his grit and tenacity.

Selected from a pool of UK nominations, Paul will be crowned WellChild's Bravest Child at a star-studded bash in London this month. Parents Stephen and Ruth, and big sister Gillian will collect the prize in his honour.

Ruth said her "Braveheart" was a deserved winner of the accolade.

"The journey that Paul faced over the past three-and-a-half years was such a rollercoaster of emotions for us all but the way Paul coped with it all just gave us strength to carry on.

"He always had a smile on his face and a cuddle for everyone, especially the girls. He was an inspiration to all and others admired him for his bravery and spirit.

"Paul knew that he would never make it to the awards ceremony. He was very matter-of-fact about that. But he was thrilled to have won and amazed that the judges should have found him to be so courageous and inspirational."

Paul was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2006.

Repeated bouts of chemotherapy followed and Paul successfully came through a bone marrow transplant until, seven months later, the cancer returned. He chose to undergo another bone marrow transplant and was in remission for a further six months until doctors again found cancer following tests.

In March 2009, two weeks before his 16th birthday, doctors predicted Paul had just weeks to live. But he began responding to palliative chemotherapy and was in remission once more before discovering in June this year that his cancer had returned.

One of the judges who selected Paul for the award, WellChild's director of programmes, Linda Partridge, paid tribute to the teenager.

"We receive many, many nominations from all over the country and all the members of the panel are moved by the bravery of the children and the stories of selfless care and support. Paul truly deserves to be the winner of this award and we also honour the dedicated doctors, nurses, teachers, brothers and sisters who go the extra mile to make a difference to the lives of sick children."