{"id":583298,"date":"2025-11-20T21:03:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/583298\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T21:03:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:03:23","slug":"sheffield-teen-turns-pain-into-purpose-with-award-winning-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/583298\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield teen turns pain into purpose with award-winning advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>POWERFUL MESSAGE: Aroob Haroon, 15, is presented with her award by the Lord Mayor and together with father Haroon Rashid at Sheffield Youth Awards<\/p>\n<p>A Sheffield teenager has become a powerful voice for children with disabilities across Yorkshire after winning a major honour at this year\u2019s Sheffield Youth Awards.<\/p>\n<p>Aroob Haroon, 15, took home the Helping Others Award recently and was also named runner-up in the Culture and Heritage category.<\/p>\n<p>For any young person the achievement would be remarkable &#8211; but for Aroob, who uses a wheelchair and has spent much of her childhood in hospital, it marks an extraordinary triumph over adversity.<\/p>\n<p>Aroob lives with a rare genetic condition thought to affect fewer than 20 children in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>Her early years have been filled with ICU admissions, major surgeries, emergency hospital stays, complex daily care routines and persistent pain.<\/p>\n<p>While many children spend their childhoods running through playgrounds, Aroob has spent hers navigating hospital corridors.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/JS388260529.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Yet friends and family say she remains the girl who smiles, inspires others, and refuses to let her wheelchair limit her hopes for the future.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Aroob (pictured above), lost her younger brother Muhammad Ayaan Haroon, known as Ayaan, who was just five-year-old when he died at Sheffield Children&#8217;s Hospital, with the family highlighting serious failings in his care in the media.<\/p>\n<p>For Aroob, the tragedy was deeply personal. She witnessed her brother\u2019s declining health and the heartbreak that followed.<\/p>\n<p>That experience, her family says, pushed her to ensure other children are seen, heard and protected.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.examinerlive.co.uk\/?utm_source=IYA&amp;utm_medium=WantMoreWidget&amp;utm_campaign=WMWidget&amp;utm_id=IYAWantMore\" style=\"border:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" id=\"app\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Live-Mob-Yorkshire_Live.png\" alt=\"Want more news? Then you'll want our sister site\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Turning heartbreak into hope<\/strong><br \/>Over the past year, Aroob has dedicated herself to advocacy and community work. Her achievements include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Raising thousands of pounds for Sheffield Children\u2019s Hospital, leading their first ever Ramadan fundraising campaign<\/li>\n<li>Increasing awareness of Bluebell Wood Children\u2019s Hospice within local Muslim communities<\/li>\n<li>Inspiring professional athletes, MPs, mayors and community leaders through her story<\/li>\n<li>Receiving VIP invitations from some of the UK\u2019s biggest sports clubs<\/li>\n<li>Becoming a visible role model for disabled children across the region<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At the awards ceremony, Aroob used her moment on stage to highlight a powerful point: \u201cWhy are there only two children in wheelchairs here today?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Out of more than 100 young people being celebrated, only two were visibly disabled. <\/p>\n<p>Her question struck at the heart of ongoing concerns around representation and accessibility.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/uk.trustpilot.com\/review\/www.inyourarea.co.uk?sort=recency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/trustpilot-web3.png\" alt=\"TRUSTPILOT WEB3\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>A message for Yorkshire<\/strong><br \/>In the coming weeks, Aroob will visit Parliament to speak about issues facing disabled children, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Representation in public life<\/li>\n<li>Barriers in education and community spaces<\/li>\n<li>Accessibility and equality<\/li>\n<li>The need for compassionate policy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Her message is simple: Children with disabilities deserve visibility, dignity and the certainty that they belong.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/uk.trustpilot.com\/review\/www.inyourarea.co.uk?sort=recency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/trustpilot-web5.png\" alt=\"TRUSTPILOT WEB5\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>A father\u2019s pride<\/strong><br \/>Aroob\u2019s dad Haroon Rashid says he has watched his daughter endure extreme physical pain and overwhelming grief, yet continue to rise with determination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything she does now &#8211; every award, every visit, every message &#8211; is done in memory of her little brother Ayaan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The family hopes sharing Aroob\u2019s journey will inspire other young people living with disability, illness or loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"POWERFUL MESSAGE: Aroob Haroon, 15, is presented with her award by the Lord Mayor and together with father&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,393,4884,12893,1620,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-583298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-inyourarea-community","12":"tag-sheffield","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115584054937146650","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}