TEENAGER Jack Walker impressed judges of a journalism competition with a tale of triumph over adversity to take home one of the top prizes.

Reporters of the future were invited to kick-start their career with the help of The Sentinel and Staffordshire University's Young Journalist Awards. More than 120 hopefuls put pen to paper for the competition and yesterday the nine finalists and their guests discovered who clinched the titles in three different age categories. Nicola Irwin reports

The 17-year-old claimed the title of College Young Journalist of The Year 2011, describing how he had fought back from a rare type of cancer of the jaw which threatened to stop him playing contact sports.

When he was 10, Jack, from Cheddleton, found a lump in his mouth and initially went to the dentist, who referred him to hospital.

Further tests and x-rays found the painful lump to be cancerous and just three months later, in August 2004, he underwent a 10-hour operation.

He recounted his experience for The Sentinel and Staffordshire University Young Journalist Awards.

More than 120 young people aged five to 18 from schools and colleges in Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle and the Moorlands entered the competition and shortlisted pupils were invited to an awards bash at the university's Film Theatre yesterday.

Other winners included Joshua Heath, from Clayton, in the primary school category and St Joseph's College pupil William Huntley, in the secondary category. Nine students were shortlisted and invited to yesterday's event.

In his report, Jack, who is fully recovered, explained that by the end of 2005, his doctor agreed he could start to play football again and how much that meant to him.

The student from The King's School, in Macclesfield, hopes to pursue a career in sports journalism to combine his passion with his love of writing.

He said: "In the past four or five years, it's been something I wanted to do and after I did work experience, it spurred me on.

"I'm overwhelmed to have won. Even coming here, I didn't have much hope of winning. I'm really grateful and hopefully it will look good on my CV. I'm hoping to go to university to study either English or journalism."

Parents David and Mary were at the ceremony to see their son pick up the award.

David said: "I'm very proud. He's a good lad. He is really committed to becoming a journalist. We know he has talent but there's lots of talented people here and it's great he has won.

"When he was ill, six weeks after the surgery he wanted to go back to school. He never moaned and even when he couldn't play football, he took up crown green bowling."

A video of the winner was shown in each category talking about what inspired them to put pen to paper.

Proud mum Mary added: "Journalism is really what he wants to do and this is a kick-start for his journalism career.

"He did go through a terrible time and to hear about it in his words was quite hard."

Jack's brother George, aged 13, also attends King's, but he does not share his brother's ambitions to be a journalist. Instead, he wants to be a film director or a producer.

He said: "Jack has been through a lot and we're all really proud of his achievement today."

Mike Sassi, editor-in-chief of The Sentinel, said: "It was a genuine privilege to read some of the entries.

"The writers had obviously spent a lot of time and effort getting involved with their subjects. They knew what they were talking about and they wrote well. Both their schools and their parents must be very proud."

Primary winner Joshua wrote about how the open fields near his home and school in Clayton must not be sold off by the council.

He passionately described how important the field was to him.

The nine-year-old said: "I'm gobsmacked that I was one of the winners. When I found out I was a finalist, I thought they had it wrong. I didn't think I would have got this far, so to be a winner is unbelievable.

"I quite like my English and writing about myths and creatures, things like Narnia and also the Romans with their swords and shields."

His mum Sarah, said: "Joshua had the competition sent home as homework and when he heard about the field, he wanted to write about it.

"When they said it might go, it ignited something. I'm amazed and really proud he has won."

William Huntley, a year 10 pupil at St Joseph's, wrote of how the humble Staffordshire oatcake should have geographic protected status, like a Cornish pasty.

The 15-year-old from Wistaston, who previously attended Berkeley Primary, near Crewe, is keeping his options open for a future career.

He said: "I thought, 'What have I got to lose?' and decided to write it up. It's good to win."

Parents Tracey and Richard were there to see him collect his award.

Tracey said: "I'm absolutely delighted. I knew he had entered but I wasn't sure what he had written about. He does love his oatcakes – hot or cold, sweet or savoury.

"It's been a fantastic day and wonderful to see other children who feel strongly about something."

Lindsay Cooke, deputy headteacher at St Joseph's said: "I talked to the year 10 and year 11 students in assembly about the competition. I'm delighted we had two in the final."

Sarah Rowlands, head of journalism at Staffordshire University, was also impressed by the standard of work.

Sarah, who has been at the university for 10 years, has a background in creating human interest films for the BBC and Jack's story appealed to her.

She said: "I have five children myself so when it's a child who has been through so much and come out of the other side, it's great to hear.

"I also liked Joshua's story. It was a classic story – he loved this space, he went out, wrote about it and I thought it was terrific. You could see it on his face that he had no idea he had won."

Joshua and classmate and runner-up Thomas Rogers, from Langdale Primary School, were to be congratulated by the whole school toady in a special assembly.

Their teacher Lisa Doughty said: "I felt emotional when the film came on. I felt so proud of both boys. They are a credit to the school."

The winners each received a netbook computer and the university will invite the three winners' schools to take part in a journalism workshop.

Young journalist awards: Victory gives Jack's poignant account a happy ending

Young journalist awards: entrant's reactions

Young journalist awards: Tackling tough subjects

Young journalist awards: Primary school winner

Young journalist awards: Secondary school winner

Young journalist awards: College winner

Young journalist awards: College runner-up - Charnell Wilson

Young journalist awards: Secondary runner-up - Daniel Fair

Young journalist awards: Primary runner-up - Thomas Rogers

Young journalist awards: College runner-up - Emma Corbett