During the NHS Heroes Awards in London on 14th May, one particular event which melted the hearts of the entire audience was when Louis Tomlinson presented 15-year-old bombing survivor Freya Lewis with the ‘Young Fundraiser Award’, after the latter raised over £40,000 for the hospital which treated her, and other victims of the 2017 Manchester Attack.
On 22nd May, 2017, 22 people were killed in a terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena in the UK during Ariana Grande’s concert. Freya had been merely 3 meters away from the blast, and had watched her best friend Neil Jones fail to survive the attack with her own eyes. Despite the fact that doctors at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital feared for her recovery, Freya steadied herself and recovered quickly. She is now preparing to take part in the Great Manchester Run. Freya also organized many campaigns and donated a lot of money to the hospital, for which she was awarded the respective award.
On the evening of Monday, as Louis Tomlinson felicitated the young girl, she broke down on stage and cried until the former One Direction star embraced her and comforted her through the episode.
The Young Fundraiser Award was given to her as an acknowledgement for all her difficulties and trials at the young age of 15, and how she had given back to the hospital which treated fellow victims of the dreaded attack. Prior to receiving the award from Tomlinson, Freya had previously been acknowledged by fellow One Direction member Harry Styles, when the latter dedicated the title track from his album to her as he sang it in the BBC Concert Special on 30th August, 2017.