A BRAVE Cub Scout has been awarded a prestigious honour after fighting back from serious illness.

Last summer 10-year-old Henry Knew was struck down with glossopharyngeal neuralgia – a condition which causes severe pain in the tongue, throat, ear, and tonsils.

Henry, a member of the 6th Wrexham Scouts, spent more than 10 weeks at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool, including two weeks in intensive care.

A team of specialist doctors from both Alder Hey and the Walton Centre were drafted in to perform major surgery on his neck. But, despite the operation, Henry continued to suffer from the painful condition for many weeks.

His Akela, Peter Williams, decided to nominate him for the Chief Scouts Commendation for Meritorious Conduct because of the courage he had shown throughout his illness.

He was presented with the award at Wrexham Parish Church in December, but last weekend he was invited to Windsor Castle for the St George’s Day parade and National Scout Service.

His proud mum Margaret said: “It was a fantastic day. I am so proud of Henry for the way he coped with being ill last year – he was so brave and really does deserve this award.”

Chief Scout Bear Grylls even wrote a personal letter to Henry in recognition of his “great courage and determination”.

Henry and his family joined 15 other gallantry award holders and new Queen Scouts from across the UK at the ceremony and were lucky enough to meet Chief Scout Bear Grylls and the Hon Mary Bayliss – representing HRH the Queen.

Henry has now made a full recovery and says he is looking forward to lots of fun activities now he is back at Cubs.