Jessica: Child of Courage

Jessica Burton, from Jarvis Brook Close, Cooden, received the award at a Pop-4-Diabetes charity event, held at the Royal Bath Hotel in Bournemouth and attended by a host of celebrities.

They included child star Connie Talbot, from Britain’s Got Talent; Hollyoaks actress Alice Barlow; X-Factor winner Steve Brookstein and actor Charlie Jones, who used to play Ben Mitchell in BBC1’s EastEnders.

The award was created in memory of a six-year-old diabetic boy, Chris Hall, who was found dead alongside his 52-year-old father in Parkstone, Bournemouth, in August.

Jessica, who is a pupil at Little Common Primary School, has congenital hyperinsulinism, or CHI, and at just four weeks old had to have her pancreas surgically removed.

Within days she was a Type 1 diabetic, and has since had to have thousands of insulin injections to help maintain her blood-sugar levels.

During the past four years she has used an insulin pump which delivers the vital hormone through a stomach cannula, which has to be changed every three days.

CHI means she must also take digestive enzymes with her food, and medication for chest pains which she has endured since she was two years old.

Her mother, Adrienne, said: “I am so proud of the way Jessica has coped with all the hardships she has faced, and thrilled that she was chosen to win this award for her courage.

“Only last week she was at Great Ormond Street Hospital having another endoscopy under general anaesthetic, yet she never moans or grumbles. She just grins and gets on with things.

“She always chats with other children who have Type 1 diabetes and encourages them to try using an insulin pump as she now does, because it can enhance their lives and the lives of their families so much.”

Mrs Burton said that the impact of Type 1 diabetes on both sufferer and relatives cannot be fully explained to anyone who has not experienced it, but added: “Normal family life is changed forever.