A transplant surgeon and a mother who founded a charity after struggling with postnatal depression were among the winners at the inaugural Good Morning Britain Health Star Awards.
The awards were set up to reward those who have gone the extra mile to help someone’s health or save a life and are voted for by GMB’s viewers.
Good Morning Britain hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid co-hosted (Lauren Hurley/PA)
They saw celebrities including Leslie Ash and Michelle Heaton join the show’s team and award nominees at a packed ceremony at the London Hilton on Park Lane on Thursday.
Also attending were Strictly professional Kevin Clifton and his wife Karen, Gloria Hunniford, Lord Winston, Debbie McGee and Dr Dawn Harper.
The winner of the Hospital Health Star award was Majid Mukadam, a lung and transplant surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, who has spent the last six years encouraging the Asian community to join the organ donor register.
Michelle Heaton supported the awards (Lauren Hurley/PA)
From the talks he has given in the local community, he estimates that he has encouraged around 25,000 Asians to sign the donor register.
Accepting the Community Health Star award was Rachael Jones from Shropshire, who set up a charity to support women suffering with postnatal depression after experiencing the illness herself.
Since setting up PANDAS Foundation in 2011, Rachael and her team have supported more than 20,000 people.
Strictly’s Kevin Clifton, pictured with wife Karen, was one of the judges (Lauren Hurley/PA)
The final Life Saver Health Star award went to Darran Sampson, from East Sussex, who saved Paul Harris’s life by performing CPR on him for almost an hour when he suffered a cardiac arrest in a pub.
The off-duty firefighter brought Paul back to life twice before paramedics arrived.
There was also a Special Recognition Health Star award chosen by The Sun’s health editor, which went to 18-year-old friends Sophia Parvizi-Wayne and Amber Van Dam.
GMB co-host Kate Garraway was on the lookout for her health hero, her midwife Jenny Smith (Lauren Hurley/PA)
The pair have campaigned to have mental health put on the national curriculum for several years after Amber struggled to find help and information when Sophia told her she had anorexia as a young teenager.
Highlights from the awards will be on Good Morning Britain on Friday from 6am.
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