Edward named in sport awards
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YOUNG climber Edward Mills could be in line for a trip to Monaco to see if he has won one of sport's prestigious awards.
The nine-year-old from Dunnet made headlines last summer when he climbed the Old Man of Hoy to raise money for the Climbers Against Cancer charity.
Edward's mother, Rebecca, was suffering with terminal breast cancer at the time and would sadly pass away a few months later. As Edward told the Caithness Courier just after he had completed his climb: "I wanted to do it for my mum."
His achievement received national recognition at the Pride of Britain awards last autumn and now his feats could be recognised globally.
The Laureus World Sports Awards honour the great and good from the sporting world and among a number of categories is the Best Sporting Moment award – the one for which Edward is nominated.
This category is decided by the public in an online vote. The top three are invited to Monaco, where the winner will be announced.
Edward's dad Nathan said: "They phoned me last August to tell me that they would like to nominate Edward for their monthly award for September. He won that and, as a result, he was on the nominations list for the overall award. Having looked at last year's ceremony on YouTube, it dawned on me as to how big the Laureus event is.
"I don't think Edward really appreciates the significance of this – he is only nine, remember. Plus he's not the sort of boy to show off and he's been going about his days like any other schoolboy.
"So he's a bit incredulous about it all – although his climbing of the Old Man of Hoy has appeared to capture the imagination of many others."
