IT must be easier to use ill health to hide away from life rather than face it.

Certainly, the fit and healthy could not be critical if anyone did.

So, it is refreshing to learn about people like 17-year-old Ruth Madeley, who take the opposite view.

Ruth, of Westhoughton, was born with debilitating spina bifida and has had to undergo a string of painful operations. She is a pupil at Thornleigh Salesian College and has missed large amounts of schooling because of health problems.

Only a few months before her GCSEs, she had to work hard to catch up with course work. But the result was that determined Ruth passed 11 GCSEs in an excellent performance.

This patently nice girl also dedicated herself to helping local charities, raising money for the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and for Whizz Kidz, which buys wheelchairs for youngsters with similar disabilities to herself.

To recognise her efforts, Ruth's parents, Geoff and Jacquie Madeley, nominated their daughter for the new Bolton Wanderers' community heroes' scheme. This is to honour local people who have triumphed over adversity or who have made a difference to other people's lives.

Ruth has done both, and last Saturday at half-time, during the Bolton-Manchester City clash at the Reebok, she received her well-deserved award.

She obviously comes from a supportive family and is the product of loving parents who have instilled in her the right kind of values.

Ruth is certainly a terrific role model, not just for youngsters but for all of us.

Anyone who can selflessly help others when their own lives are fraught with difficulties is a top person in my book. I'm sure we haven't heard the last of Ruth -- plainly, no goal is too great for her.