Prince Harry presented with Belfast Giants shirt by NI teen at WellChild Awards ceremony
Blake McCaughey from Tandragee gifted Harry a green Belfast Giants ice hockey shirt, personalised with his name on the back
The Duke of Sussex was presented with a Belfast Giants ice hockey shirt by a Co Armagh teenager during the annual WellChild Awards 2023
Prince Harry attended the ceremony in London on Thursday night, his first appearance in the UK since June.
The duke, a WellChild patron for 15 years, sat with seriously-ill children and their families during a pre-ceremony reception at The Hurlingham Club in south-west London.
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He spoke with each young award winner in turn about their interests and hobbies and fist-bumped two of the boys receiving Inspirational Young Person awards including Blake McCaughey from Tandragee.
Blake, 15, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder, gifted Harry a green Belfast Giants ice hockey shirt, personalised with the duke’s name on the back.
Just last month, the Belfast Giants announced a new fundraiser to help send their young fan Blake on the trip of a lifetime to Boston, USA.
Blake was born with two chromosome deletions and abnormal muscle fibres and lives with irreversible intestinal failure, which means he cannot eat or drink and has to be fed through a tube.
He has been asked to meet the transplant team at Birmingham Children’s Hospital later this year to undergo two weeks of tests and meetings to establish whether he is eligible for a small bowel transplant.
The funds raised through Blake’s Boston Dream fundraiser will be used to pay for flights, accommodation and day trips that can “help to make memories for a family who just do not know what the future holds for Blake”.
The duke, who attended without his wife Meghan, said the level of support and responsibility shown by parent carers was “unrivalled” and “proof that not all superheroes wear capes”.
But he said more work needed to be done for children with complex medical needs to ensure they spend less time in hospital.
Speaking to the award winners, he added: “Your stories energise and encourage us to want to do more everywhere we go. So just keep being you, and thanks for having me.”
In a speech at the ceremony, the duke said Queen Elizabeth II “is looking down on all of us” as he spoke fondly of his late grandmother on the eve of the anniversary of her death.
He reflected on the events of 12 months ago when he was forced to miss the awards as he rushed to Balmoral in Aberdeenshire after his grandmother was taken ill.
He said: “As you know, I was unable to attend the awards last year as my grandmother passed away.
“As you also probably know, she would have been the first person to insist that I still come to be with you all instead of going to her, and that’s precisely why I know exactly one year on that she is looking down on all of us tonight, happy we’re together, continuing to spotlight such an incredible community.”
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