posted on july 12th 2022
the family of little phighter zac gunn are still celebrating after he received a national bravery award last month.
four-year-old zac, who was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2019, was awarded the child of courage prize at the daily record pride of scotland awards. the family had to keep it secret for more than six weeks, before the ceremony took place in edinburgh on 21st june.
they walked the star-studded red carpet together, and zac was joined by his parents and older brother jacob on stage to collect the award.
mum ashley told us: “the evening was absolutely magical. it was beautiful, and although zac and his brother jacob are superstars in our eyes, other people got to see how amazing they are too. i felt like the award was for both of them, as jacob deals with a lot too, and smashes it.”
zac is on a hickman line delivering drugs straight into his body 24 hours a day, and he has been on the waiting list for a lung transplant for a year.
“as amazing as it was to see zac win this award, it would be a million times better to get the phone call to say there are lungs available”, said ashley. “i just need people to know how rare it is to get a new set of lungs and how much we need them.”
whilst waiting for their life-changing call, the family are doing their best to enjoy the summer. they have lots of plans for the school holidays, but the hospital bag will stay packed just in case.
“zac rocks our world”, added ashley. “as adults, we couldn’t go through what he does. he is so resilient and really is a force to be reckoned with.”
the pride of scotland awards celebrate ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and sees awe-inspiring scots being recognised for their outstanding achievements.
you can read about zac on the awards website here.
