'Wonder Woman' of Dorset becomes youngest ever MBE recipient
The youngest person ever to be made an MBE has told us she "never thought anything like this would happen"
An 11-year-old girl from Dorset has become the youngest person ever awarded an MBE.
Carmela Chillery-Watson, from Dorset, who has LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy - a progressive muscle-wasting condition which affects her movement, heart and lungs – was recognised by the King for her ‘services to charitable fundraising’.
She was diagnosed with the condition in 2017 and in recent years has helped charity Muscular Dystrophy UK raise more than £400,000 by doing around 25 fundraising and awareness campaigns.
Carmela told us: "I'm just really ecstatic and surprised that I'm receiving the honour."
The 11-year-old campaigner has undertaken a variety of challenges, including her Wonder Woman Walk where she walked one kilometre a day and then went another nine kilometres a day in her wheelchair for a month in 2020.
Dressed as her favourite superhero Wonder Woman, Carmela travelled across 30 different places in Cornwall, Somerset, Wiltshire and Surrey to complete the 300-kilometre trek.
She has also carried out a 100-mile walking challenge across the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.
She also teaches exercises online to help others with muscular dystrophy and similar physical disabilities for those unable to leave their homes or who don't have access to physiotherapy in their area.
"I never thought anything like this would happen," Carmela said. "I just want to make a difference to the disability community, to be able to show them: You're strong, you can do whatever you want."
Carmela will break paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds' record of being the youngest person to become an MBE from 2009 when she was 14 years old.
But this isn’t the first time the 11-year-old is receiving an award. She’s been presented with a British Citizen Youth Award Medal of Honour in 2023 for making a positive impact on her community.
Her mother, Lucy Chillery-Watson said she was "bursting with pride" over her daughter becoming an MBE.
She told us: "Since the moment she was born she showed true resilience and determination - growing up with health conditions, one after the other.
"She's making a huge difference in the world and is already thinking about her next challenge. She wants to go around UK primary schools to spread inclusivity in amongst the schools for physical disabilities.”
Carmela's next challenge is her so-called "Poo Plod" on June 23, when she will walk and wheel five miles dressed as a toilet, with her mum dressed as a poo, to raise money to buy specialist toilets for her school in Poole.