Derry duo shortlisted for Spirit of NI Awards.

Co Derry duo Therese Heaney and Grainne Evans have been confirmed as finalists in the highly prestigious Spirit of Northern Ireland Awards.

Magherafelt girl Therese (pictured) is one of five shortlisted in the Young Person’s category.

Born with a Biliary Artesia, her family always knew she would one day require a liver transplant.

However, when her condition became life threatening in January last year, the need for a transplant was urgent.

Luckily, a suitable donor was found just in time to save Therese and her surgeon commented that her liver was in the worst condition he had seen throughout twenty years of practice. Defying all of the odds, Therese was discharged from hospital just 10 days after undergoing such an intensive procedure. Dubbed as ‘the patient who never complains,’

Therese was soon impressing everyone around her with her strength, courage and optimism. . Maghera woman Grainne is one of five shortlisted in the Unsung Hero category.

Grainne’s daughter Tessa has an extremely rare condition known as arrhinia which means she was born without a nose and has no sight in her left eye.

In fact, arrhinia is so rare that only 47 cases have ever been recorded and so there is very little information surrounding the condition.

This left Grainne and her husband Nathan feeling very confused and at times frightened for their daughter’s future without knowing who to turn to.

With the help of her husband, Grainne worked tirelessly to ensure that no family would face the uncertainty she felt.

For Grainne, it simply wasn’t good enough for families not to have access to trustworthy, reliable information and campaigned hard to raise awareness of their daughter’s condition.