Nine-year-old Little Trooper from Shawbury wins charity bravery award
A nine-year-old military child from RAF Shawbury has been awarded by military children’s charity, Little Troopers, for showing bravery and determination in the face of ill-health and change at home.
Kayden Royle, who’s Dad serves in the Royal Air Force, was named ‘Little Trooper of the Month’ after being diagnosed with alopecia and undergoing treatment at the same time as moving home and coping with his Dad serving overseas.
At the beginning of 2020, Kayden was living in Cyprus when he suddenly lost 75% of his hair due to the onset of alopecia. His hair began to grow back in the summer but when the family moved back to the UK Kayden found the transition difficult after 4.5 years in Cyprus and in the autumn he lost all of his hair and eyelashes again. Further impacted by the lockdown restrictions and home-schooling; Kayden withdrew completely, wearing a hat all the time and refusing to leave the house.
Kayden started receiving treatment in February and whilst his hair hasn’t grown back yet, his family say he is slowly getting his confidence back and is enjoying being back at school. Kayden and his family are now facing another challenge with his Dad now deployed overseas until July, but Kayden’s Mum says that he is taking this in his stride and is just focused on getting back to playing football at Wem Town Football Club when games resume.
She explains: “I am so proud of Kayden and how he has dealt with all the changes he has faced this past year; alopecia, moving back to the UK, home-schooling, lockdown and now deployment. There's been tears and smiles but I can see my happy boy returning now and his confidence is growing more and more every day.”
Kayden will receive a special medal, certificate and prize as part of her award.
Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, comments: “This has been a particularly difficult year for lots of military children who have faced house moves and deployments alongside home-schooling and lockdown, but it’s been especially hard for Kayden to cope with the sudden onset of alopecia as well. Our Little Trooper of the Month Award scheme is about lifting military children up and helping them realise just how special they really are. We hope this award helps Kayden to see just how amazing he has been and how proud his family are of him.”
Little Troopers is a registered charity supporting children who have parents serving in the British Armed Forces. The charity has a number of resources that parents can use to support children at home including the Little Troopers Treasures story recording app for military parents to record themselves reading stories for their children to watch while they are away.
The charity also runs a school programme and will be running a series of virtual workshops for primary schools in June. For more information visit www.littletroopers.net.
