IT was heartening to read the fantastic news that Lyndon Longhorne has received another award in recognition of his positive attitude.

The inspirational 15-year-old has been presented with a Children’s Champion award after top celebrities were impressed with how he’s coped with losing both legs and part of his arm after falling ill with meningitis as a child.

He’s also offered support and advice to other children affected by meningitis and has been a huge help to charities such as Meningitis UK, which are trying to raise awareness of the deadly disease.

Here at Meningitis UK, we are hugely proud of Lyndon’s achievements and feel that this award is extremely well-deserved.

His positive outlook is inspirational not just to everyone who has experience of this horrible disease, but to everyone he comes into contact with.

Meningitis is also often incredibly difficult to detect as the symptoms are hard to distinguish from the common cold and flu.

For all these reasons, we are developing a preventative vaccine to protect against all forms of meningitis and its associated diseases is our sole focus at Meningitis UK.

Our “Search 4 a Vaccine” campaign aims to raise £7m to fund lifesaving research into eradicating all forms of meningitis. To find out more call Meningitis UK on 0117 373 7373 or visit www.meningitisUK.org Philippa Walker, Meningitis UK.