Every year at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year
(SPOTY) ceremony, there is an award given "for
outstanding achievement in the face of adversity". This award is
named after the former BBC sports presenter and journalist Helen Rollason, who
died in August 1999 after a 2 year battle with cancer of the colon, spreading
to her liver.
After her diagnosis, she helped
raise over £5m to set up a cancer wing at the North Middlesex
Hospital
Recipients of the award include the
likes of horse racing trainer Jenny Pitman, Paralympian sprinter Oscar
Pistorius, boxer Michael Watson, snooker player Paul Hunter and Grand National
winning jockey Bob Champion.
Helen would have been celebrating
her 60th birthday today (11th March 2016)
