Brave Josie wins Pride of Herefordshire title

Josie Pearson, 23, from Whitney-on-Wye, has been named overall winner of the 2009 Pride of Herefordshire awards for her courage at readapting to life in a wheelchair after a car accident left her with serious injuries.

After nine months in hospital, Josie completed her studies at Hereford Sixth Form College and gained a place at the University of Wales in Cardiff where she initially studied neuroscience.

While at Cardiff, she also learned to play wheelchair rugby and in 2008 was part of England’s wheelchair rugby team in the Beijing Paralympics, narrowly missing a medal when the team came fourth.

She has just returned from the European rugby games last week where the team reached the semi-finals and has now been selected for the World Championships being held in Vancouver next year.

Josie, who is tetraplegic, was nominated by Councillor Brian Wilcox, won the award for Courage as well as taking the overall title.

She said: “I was thrilled to get both of the awards and I had a fantastic evening.”

Speakers at the evening were Brummie Stokes and Tony Larkin, head coach of the GB blind football team. Hereford is to host the World Blind Football Championships in 2010.

The Pride of Herefordshire awards, organised by Herefordshire Partnership, Herefordshire Council and the Primary Care Trust, were sponsored by the Hereford, Ross and Leominster Journal.

Other winners were:

Entrepreneur: Cheryl Bishop, 23, from Hereford who runs her own jewellery business in the Butter Market. She was nominated by Damien Evans.

Learner: Dane Philips of Bosbury who has used education and training to turn his life around and re-enter the job market. He was nominated by Patricia Hayes of CVS Training.

Health champion: Joint winners Linda Gough, Ann Stokes and Brenda Bayliss, who are all tutors at the county’s Expert Patients Programme (EPP) which supports people with long-term health conditions. They were nominated by EPP co-ordinator Sue Tobey.

Young Carer: Freya Russell Turner, 7, from Ledbury Road, Hereford, who is one of the main carers for her housebound mum and also looks after her sister Chloe and brother George. She was nominated by mum Hayley.

Environmental Champion: Jane Denny of Stanhope Street, Hereford, who is Eco-school co-ordinator at Weobley School which was the second school in the county to receive the coveted Green Flag award. She was nominated by Jamie Elliott and Antonia Fitch.

Adult carer: Anita Mills from Leominster who cares for her epileptic and disabled brother. She was nominated by her sister Sandra Lewis.

Community group (less than 10 members): Dormington and Mordiford Youth Club, a group of teenage boys who are working hard to set up a youth club. They were nominated by Councillor Josie Pemberton.

Community group (more than 10 members): Hospice Angels, a unique group of motorbike riding “angels” who have raised £83,000 in six years for St Michael’s Hospice. They were nominated by Councillor Chris Chappell, Martin Meredith and Sharon Powell.