An 11 year old from Fermanagh has been highly commended at the MS Awards ceremony for her caring role at home.

Olivia Black  is 11 years old and cares for her mum Tanya who has had MS for 15 years. Olivia is an outstanding young person who undertakes tasks often required of adults like administering her mum’s beta interferon injection three times per week.

Olivia often has to provide personal care for her mum including hoisting her mum to the shower chair, washing, dressing and making sure her mum is comfortable.

Olivia was nominated by her grandmother Muriel Henry. Olivia and Muriel travelled to the awards ceremony in London. While she did not pick up the top award, Olivia was highly commended.

The amazing thing about Olivia is her constant pleasant demeanour. She often misses out on fun activities with other young people but never complains and continues to do all of this as well as excelling in her studies and recently achieved a top grade in the transfer exam.

She often attends medical appointments and speaks on her mum’s behalf to ensure she gets the best medical care.

On hearing about the recognition Olivia’s father David Black said: “I am so very proud of Olivia! I feel she more than deserved this recognition, no task involving her mother is of any bother to Olivia.”

Olivia herself said: “I was honoured to have received the nomination and be highly commended but I also feel really privileged to be able to do this much for my mum!”

There was further success for NI with the Mid Ulster Group of the MS Society winning in the ‘Group of the Year’ category and Tom Hunter from Islandmagee winning ‘Volunteer of the Year’.

MS is an unpredictable condition that affects more than 100,000 people in the UK, 4,500 in Northern Ireland. It’s different for everyone, but is often painful and exhausting and can cause problems with how you walk, move, see, think and feel.

Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of the MS Society, said: “With over 100,000 people living with MS in the UK, the MS Society Awards are our way of celebrating and recognising the hard work and dedication of people who make a difference in the MS community.

“We are proud Olivia was shortlisted and highly commended at the awards.”

This year’s Awards were held earlier this month at County Hall in London. The ceremony was attended by a host of celebrities and other household names from the world of TV, radio, music and sport.

Find out more about the MS Society Awards at www.mssociety.org.uk/awards