Make a Difference Awards: Posthumous bravery honour for young pair

Volunteers, fundraisers and carers are among those celebrated at BBC Radio Derby's Make a Difference Awards.

The event was held at Pride Park Stadium on Sunday and recognised those who have been helping others over the past year.

Joint winners of the Bravery Award, Margaret Adcock, 18, and Kori Stovell, 11, both passed away earlier this year.

Margaret's mother, Lyn Adcock, said: "She embraced fear. She carried on and lived life to the fullest."

Ms Adcock, from Hilton, was told in January she had terminal cancer and died just a month after her birthday.

Accepting the award, her mother said: "When Margaret found out she was nominated by her best friend, she just said 'I just do what I do mum' and that's what she does.

"Margaret taught us the real meaning of bravery. She embraced fear, she carried on and lived life to the fullest."

Her friend Maggie Walker added: "She was so brave. She has completely changed my life for the rest of my life. I carry her with me all day every day.

"She taught us all to appreciate the small things. Life doesn't last forever, you've got to take what you can get. We were all sat stressing about our A-levels while she was fighting for her life."

Kori Stovell, from Ripley, was born with a rare heart condition and died in July despite two heart transplants.

The 11-year-old's mother Pixi Travers-Stovell, accepted the award dressed in a pink onesie, to keep a promise to Kori.

She said: "Kori's big thing was helping other children and advocating for child transplantation.

"For an adult who loses their child in that situation to have to make a decision on whether they donate their child's organs, especially a heart which is so personal, was something that Kori really wanted to bring to the forefront.

"That's something we're doing with the Captain Kori Foundation that we're just about to launch."

His older sister Ebony spoke of how proud she was of her brother.

"He was very confident. He always wanted to be centre of attention and for people to give him hugs," she said.

"I think his YouTube channel was the perfect thing for him because he was having such a hard time and there wasn't a bit of his life that was easy - he was constantly in pain and scared.

"We are just so proud of him because he was constantly bubbly and he didn't let it bring him down so it was fantastic."

The winners for each category were:

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].