Dad of girl with Down's syndrome awarded as unsung hero

A dad of an eight-year-old girl with Down’s syndrome has been honoured as an unsung hero at this year’s Pride of Scotland Awards.

Jamie McCallum was named a TSB Community Hero for his work in helping change negative perceptions surrounding the condition.

Ahead of the show airing on STV on Tuesday night, Jamie said: “Seeing others who have rescued people from burning vehicles, or cured Covid or are fighting terminal illness; it was a very humbling experience to be sharing a stage with those people.”

Jamie was also recognised for a viral video ‘Wouldn’t Change a Thing’, all inspired by his daughter, Rosie.

He said: “The real motivation behind ‘Wouldn’t Change a Thing’ stems from a degree of guilt I felt when she was born.

“What I thought I knew was negative and it took away the first few months of what should have been a very happy experience, which still leave a bad taste in my mouth because I realise how completely unnecessary that is.”

Speaking of his daughter, proud dad Jamie said: “She is a force to be reckoned with.

“She loves to sing and dance and you will always know when she’s in the room.”

The emotional, heart warming and celebratory night of awards is due to air on STV at 8pm.

The star-studded ceremony, hosted by Nicky Campbell and Kirsty Gallagher, features everyone from James Corden to Annie Lennox but the true stars of the show are the winners.

People like Dundee’s Olivia Blackburn, who, at just 24-year-old, has gone through more than most could imagine, including a mini stroke, losing her father to cancer and having her mother diagnosed with stage four lymphoma.

Despite all this, Olivia won a place on a Prince’s Trust course to help young people gain skills to work in the NHS.

She told STV News: “It was quite emotional for me because when I was younger, I accepted that I wasn’t going to have a career I would be proud of and that was really hard but my health was more important but then being accepted onto that course was the beginning of a career I could be proud of.”

Olivia has now been accepted onto a nursing course at university and was overjoyed when she learned she had won the Prince’s Trust young Achiever award at the Pride of Scotland Awards.

She added: “It was an emotional and overwhelming night that I will never forget.”