A BRAVE youngster from Westhoughton has been presented with an award by one of his Wanderers heroes.

Eleven-year-old Joshua Greaves, a pupil at St George's CE Primary who had won one of BBC North West Tonight's Christmas Star Awards, was shocked to see Bolton midfielder Josh Vela turn up to present him with the award.

The Whites No.6 made the short journey to the school in Westhoughton following training, Joshua, a huge Bolton Wanderers fan with his accolade.

Joshua had been nominated by his headteacher Philip Ivory, who was aware of the enormous obstacles he had already overcome including losing his sight in one eye and reduced vision in the other and he uses a guide dog.

He has also had a number of major operations including both heart and brain surgery and is a frequent visitor to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

Despite his tribulations however, Joshua's personality is infectious and he has been referred to as "a little ray of sunshine" and as one of the most polite, personable and well-liked boys that St George's has had the privilege to educate.

Despite the health challenges Joshua is actively fundraising for two charities, one which provides dogs for the blind and for Alder Hey Hospital, which helped with earn him one of North West Tonight's special awards.

The presentation which was shown on the BBC on Wednesday showed a surprised Joshua delighted to be picking up the award from his hero.

Handed him his award Josh Vela said: "The young lad is an inspiration to all of us including the Bolton team."

After the event he added: "Joshua really is an inspirational little boy. What he has achieved despite his health problems is incredible and he should be extremely proud of himself.

"It was great to come down here today to surprise him and meet him - he's a great character and very much deserves his award."