On 7 April 2016, a 7-year-old boy saved the lives of 15 people who were trapped in the back of a lorry in Leicester Forest East and were at risk of suffocating.

Despite not having received any formal, English language education, the boy managed to send a text message in English to a contact who, at the time, was in New York, which set in motion a series of events that led to the 15 people being found alive and rescued.

Leicester City Council should give the 7-year-old the Freedom of the City in recognition of how, despite the odds he faced, he had the presence of mind to look for a solution to the life-threatening challenge he and the people he was travelling with were facing.

Leicester needs more young people like him.