Millions of viewers saw the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013 Helen Rollason Award given posthumously to Anne Williams.

It was an emotional night for the late and legendary Hillsborough campaigner's family, with Anne's brother, Danny, and children, Sara and Michael, accepting the thoroughly-deserved accolade.

Everyone in Merseyside, and a great many people beyond, have long known Anne was a brilliant and inspiring campaigner - and, most importantly of all, an utterly devoted mum who simply wanted to know why her 15-year-old son, Kevin, died after going to watch a football match.

But now, thanks to this extremely prestigious award, millions more people - around the country and around the world - will have learned about her relentless, and successful, quest for the truth.

This, of course, is no ordinary award. The Helen Rollason Award, presented in memory of the BBC presenter who died in 1999 at the age of 43 after suffering from cancer, is given for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity.

And no one can doubt that Anne Williams helped bring about an outstanding achievement in the face of adversity, after taking on the might of the Establishment and refusing to stop asking awkward questions until they were properly answered.

Despite doors being repeatedly slammed in her face, she simply would not give up on the truth and would not give up on her son, or the 95 other Hillsborough victims.

Anne's legacy is huge - she showed that ordinary people can do extraordinary things, by winning battles against all the odds. The whole country should be proud of her.

Source: Liverpool Echo