WHEN Cathleen Willcox fell down the stairs, fractured her skull and lost more than a litre of blood her husband saved her life.

He checked her pulse, called an ambulance and kept her safe until help arrived.

Cathleen, 38, who has insulin dependent diabetes, had suffered a severe hypoglycaemic attack because her blood sugar levels had fallen dangerously low.

It is just one of many occasions where husband David and daughter Megan-Marie, 15, have come to the rescue.

That is why Cathleen, a council worker from Millbrook, has nominated them both for the Daily Echo Carer of the Year awards, supported by Southampton Lions.

Together the Daily Echo and the Southampton Lions, a group of volunteers who every year raise thousands of pounds to support a host of local good causes, have organised the competition to highlight many of the unsung heroes who make a real difference to people's lives across our communities.

Mum-of-three Cathleen, who recently suffered a double bereavement with both her adopted father and natural father dying in the space of seven months, was this year also diagnosed with a blood clot and bronchitis.

She said: "David and Megan work hard enough on their own problems with either work or school and yet there are never any boundaries to the care, love and support they provide me with.

"I would never have come through all these issues if it was not for these two and I will spend my life thanking them.

"They both worry continually about me having hypo attacks and sometimes they will see my health deteriorate even before I am aware.

"When this happens I'm made sweet tea and toast and given the TV remote and I'm overseen to make sure I remain seated until we all know I'm up and running again."

Cathleen said her husband was her "best friend" who had saved her from death and her daughter, a pupil at Regents Park School, had provided enormous help.

She said: "I wish I could stand on top of the world, wink at them and say thank you."