TEENAGER Keiran Piper was awestruck when he got to meet his Arsenal hero Riccardo Calafiori.
But the Gunners defender was just as impressed by Keiran, congratulating the 16-year-old on winning The Sun’s 2025 Saffie’s Smile award.
Darren FletcherTeenager Keiran Piper won The Sun’s 2025 Saffie’s Smile award[/caption]
SuppliedKeiran got to meet his Arsenal hero Riccardo Calafiori[/caption]
SuppliedAfter taking up trampolining, Keiran turned his life around[/caption]
Our special gong recognises an extraordinary young person who has gone above and beyond to help others.
Now in its second year, we launched the prize with Andrew and Lisa Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose was the youngest victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena terror attack.
This year, the couple selected Keiran as the winner from hundreds of entries to the competition held in Saffie’s memory.
Keiran was bullied relentlessly at school when he was 11 and even told to take his own life by cruel classmates.
But after taking up trampolining, he turned his life around and now spends his free time mentoring and coaching other children.
‘Incredible young man’
He was nominated by his coach Carrie-Ann Williamson Santos.
And as a special surprise, Arsenal’s stars invited Keiran as a VIP guest to watch the team beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Saturday and then meet some of his idols.
Keiran and his family also won a dream holiday courtesy of travel firm On The Beach.
Keiran said: “I couldn’t believe Riccardo Calafiori knew about me and my trampolining and volunteering.
“He knew about the Saffie’s Smile award and said congratulations on winning it. It was surreal that he knew anything about me.
“Meeting my heroes has been incredible and something I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Andrew and Lisa joined with us to establish the Saffie’s Smile award because they did not want their daughter only to be remembered for the 2017 attack which saw a suicide bomber kill 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.
Andrew said: “Saffie was such a positive person in life. After so many amazing nominations last year we were excited to read this year’s inspirational stories.
“Keiran is inspirational in the way that he fought his way to a better and positive future for himself and others.”
Keiran was joined for his special day out by mum Maria and stepdad Mikel Hartley.
Whenever the youngsters come in, they all want to go on the trampoline Keiran is coaching on
Keiran’s coach Carrie-Ann Williamson Santos
Maria said: “He had an incredible day. Arsenal presented him with a shirt and his eyes lit up. He even said he won’t wash his hand after shaking hands with the players.
“He’s an incredible son who has overcome so much.”
Coach Carrie-Ann told how when she saw The Sun award, she instantly thought of Keiran.
She said: “He’s an incredible young man, — just amazing.
“When I first met him when he came to trials through his school aged 11 he was being bullied, was struggling at school and had a lot of anxiety that prevented him from reaching his potential.”
Keiran now competes in trampolining, representing London. He trained in Portugal this summer and has become a student coach himself.
Darren FletcherMum Maria and stepdad Mikel with Kieran[/caption]
Carrie-Ann added: “He’s literally helped hundreds of children.
“He volunteers his time during school and school holidays to help at summer camps for children on free school meals.
“And he coaches and looks after children on the ‘at risk’ register who are incredibly vulnerable and need extra support.
“Whenever the youngsters come in, they all want to go on the trampoline Keiran is coaching on.”
But it has been a tough journey for the youngster.
His mum says: “The bullies told him he should kill himself. How can kids be so mean to one another? They called him fat and ugly.
‘Born to do it’
“He had six hours of it pretty much relentlessly every day. He kept everything to himself until one day he broke down. I was so shocked.
“We’ve always been close so while I was relieved he told me, I was so worried he’d kept the whole thing to himself.”
She added: “Keiran is a huge Arsenal fan but he’d never played football or been that sporty.
“He’d gained some weight with the bullying and anxiety but he was adamant he wanted to give trampolining a go when the trials came up.”
And his life began to change immediately after. Carrie-Ann says: “He lost weight almost instantly. And his confidence grew straight away.
“He started winning competitions soon after he started too. It’s like he was born to do it.”
As well as his trip to Arsenal, Keiran, who is doing his GCSEs, also won a family holiday worth £5,000 from On The Beach.
Zoe Harris, from the firm, said: “Keiran’s story is nothing short of inspiring.
“As a Manchester-based brand, supporting Saffie’s Smiles is something very close to our hearts and we can’t wait to see Keiran creating special memories with his loved ones on his holiday.”
Keiran added: “I want to say a huge thank you to Andrew and Lisa. Them believing in me means the world. Things like this don’t happen to people like me.”
THREE runners-up each won a family day out to a Merlin theme park of their choice.
Aston Smith, 13, from Northampton, lives with autism spectrum disorder and has written books about space, donating money from their sale to the charity UK Astronomy.
Brother and sister Isabella, 11, and Oliver Foster, nine, from Sheffield, have shown huge dedication in volunteering for charity Support Dogs.
And Freddie Rushton, six, from Stoke, who had a stroke aged four, now supports the Stroke Association to raise awareness of strokes, especially in children.
In Saffie’s memory, we want to hear YOUR stories about incredible young people who go above and beyond Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
