TOM Bidwell was 14 when he was diagnosed with cancer.Yesterday he was praised as a shining ambassador for fellow sufferers.

Now 16, Tom received a standing ovation from fellow cancer research fund-raisers for his remarkable efforts in raising vital donations while fighting his illness. There to cheer him on was Wanderers' boss Sam Allardyce (above left) pictured presenting Tom with awards for the North West Young Supporter of the Year and the National Young Supporter of the Year, along with Mike Davis, regional office manager for the CRC. Tom, from Leyland, has raised more than £5,000 from sales of his poetry book written in between bouts of painful chemotherapy treatment. He composed the verses as he lay awake through the night in the both the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and at the Christie Hospital. One of the first poems was 'Cos Cowards Get Cancer Too'. It reads:

When you're tired and weary

and things don't go your way.

And people take for granted that

they'll see another day.

When you're so afraid that tears

burn your eyes

When you ask important questions

but never get replies.

When you haven't got the answers

and don't know what to do

When you don't deserve what's happening

so why'd it happen to you?

When people think they know how you

feel deep down inside.

And you say you're not afraid,

when you're really petrified.

When you think there is no heaven

and you feel like you're in hell.

And you can't recall at all

what it feels like to be well

When everyone has left you, except a certain few.

It's all right to be afraid 'cos cowards get cancer too.