Little Trooper of the Month

Nancy Gorman’s Dad serves in the British Army and he deployed on operations before Christmas, his second deployment in 12 months. He won’t return home until June this year. Nancy was enjoying the school holidays with her Mum and her brother, Doug when she suddenly became unwell with a high fever and was rushed to Salisbury Hospital with suspected scarlet fever. Nancy spent the night in hospital and had to return twice over the following days for intravenous antibiotics.

She was named ‘Little Trooper of the Month’ by the charity Little Troopers for coping with adversity while her Dad is serving away. Nancy also received a teddy bear from Little Troopers as part of the charity’s Christmas Smiles initiative to send teddy bear hugs to children whose parents were deployed over Christmas.

Family friend, Tania, nominated Nancy for the award and comments: “As if life isn’t hard enough not seeing their Daddy for a long period of time and over Christmas and then they had to spend half term in hospital. Nancy didn’t complain the whole time and still managed to smile, even when she was feeling poorly.”

Mum, Natalie, adds: “Nancy is such a resilient girl. She’s coped with a lot for a five-year-old, especially having her Dad deployed away twice in one year which has been tough. She’s really missed having him around and we’re all counting the days until he is back.

“Being a military child can be hard, but she is so adaptable to change and it’s given her real life skills like being good at making new friends. She’s recently started ballet, Rainbows and skiing while her Dad has been deployed and it’s been lovely to see her confidence grow. We are all so proud of her and both Nancy and her big brother Doug have been the best company and support for me during deployment too!”

Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, explains: “Having a parent deployed overseas is one of the biggest challenges that military children face, so to also have to go through a medical emergency during this time is especially hard for children and their families. We hope the medal reminds Nancy that she is a little trooper and she should be proud of everything she has been through.”

Nancy will receive a medal, certificate and a £50 voucher from Little Troopers.