A CBBC documentary about inspirational Pride of Britain winner Nikki Christou has scooped an International Children's Emmy in Cannes.
The programme My Life: Born to Vlog tells how Nikki has coped with her rare medical condition arteriovenous malformation (AVM) – a tangle of blood vessels - which causes her to have life-threatening nosebleeds and painful headaches .
At eight years old she launched her own YouTube channel, Nikki Lilly, to express her thoughts and feelings which now has more than 500,000 subscribers.
Collecting the award the 14-year-old, who was put into a coma for eight days last summer with a bleed that wouldn't stop, told how she always manages to stay positive.
“This documentary shows we all have bad days but it's what you make out of them that defines you,” she said. “In order to get the good days you need to geo through the bad ad I think we all need to know that. We need to be there for each other.”
Since making the programme, which aired in 2017, producer Launa Kennett has filmed a follow-up for CBBC, My Life: I Will Survive, which charted Nikki's progress during 2018 through three major operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The procedures, to remove as much of the AVM as possible, were difficult and dangerous because it the tangled vessels lie behind her eye, deep in her skull, near her brain.
Nikki's vlogs and video diaries, which contain universal messages of hope and optimism and her message that “beauty lies within” are important for other children to learn from.
Recent research has shown that only 1 in 3 kids would be friends with someone who looks different, like Nikki. But if children are exposed to the visual differences from a young age, especially before the age of seven, this can change.
Kennett said it was important that Nikki shares her story against a backdrop of social media definitions of perfection and beauty. “It is crucial to keep challenging what is considered normal and embrace every sort of difference.”
Nikki was named Child of Courage at the 2016 Pride of Britain Awards for the help and support she has provided to other children with AVMs and other facial disfigurements.
