David Beckham, Boris Johnson and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini amongst the stars honouring Ebola aid workers at Pride of Britain Awards

Star power: David Beckham at the Pride of Britain awards
Ian West/PA Wire
Jason Collie28 September 2015
The Weekender

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David Beckham, the Prince of Wales and David Cameron are among a host of celebrities and public figures lending their support tonight to a ceremony recognising some of Britain's bravest people.

This year's Pride of Britain awards, being held in central London, recognises British aid workers who risked their lives to save thousands of Ebola victims and emergency medics who scaled a rollercoaster to rescue the victims of the Alton Towers crash.

The Daily Mirror awards recognise courage, selflessness and achievement against the odds with nominees voted by members of the public.

Beckham has flown in from New York to present one child with their award and the Prince of Wales will feature in a video shown during the ceremony.

Charles said: "The Pride of Britain awards are a wonderful way to celebrate the people who make us proud to be British by devoting their lives to the service of others."

Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini Ian West/PA Wire 
Ian West/PA Wire

As well as Beckham, other stars from across TV and sport in attendance include Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, London Mayor Boris Johnson, Ozzy Osbourne and family, Rachel Stevens and Ainsley Harriott.

The special recognition award for the British Ebola aid effort recognises that the dedication and care of British support workers helped to contain the outbreak and reduce the number of deaths.

It notes that doctors, nurses and support staff willingly went to the worst-affected areas to set up treatment centres even though they risked catching Ebola as they lived and worked alongside victims.

British nurses Will Pooley, 30, of Suffolk, and Pauline Cafferkey, 37, of Glasgow, and British Army medic Corporal Anna Cross, 25, of Cambridge, have all recovered after being treated for the contagious disease.

Mr Cameron said: "The Ebola outbreak was one of the most devastating epidemics of our generation, but we managed to stop its spread thanks to the hard work of British people who travelled to west Africa."

Army doctor Major David Cooper, 34, and aircrew paramedic Tom Waters, 27, were on duty with Midlands Air Ambulance when they were called to Alton Towers following the crash on the Smiler ride on June 2.

Dr Ben Clark, 40, a volunteer with North Staffordshire BASICS emergency doctors, was also part of the emergency response team.

Ainsley Harriott and Natalie Lowe Ian West/PA Wire
Ian West/PA Wire

Despite having limited rope training, they ignored health and safety rules to climb the structure to save the lives of the trapped victims.

All three said they did not think twice about risking their own lives - especially when they realised how serious the situation was for Leah Washington, 18, who had suffered a life-threatening bleed from a severed artery.

Their efforts included a partial amputation at a height of 35ft-40ft and carrying out a life-saving blood transfusion while she was still trapped.

Mr Waters said "the need outweighed the risk", while Major Cooper added: "We just did what we needed to do."

Additional reporting by the Press Association

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