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From host Paul O’Grady’s hilarious opening gags to the soaring finale, The NHS Heroes Awards is uplifting, emotional, inspirational and unmissable.

Here are some of our favourite moments you’ll see when you tune in to Monday night's show on ITV.

1. Freya surprise and Louis

Young fundraiser Freya Lewis was shocked when One Direction star Louis Tomlinson walked out on stage to present her award.

Freya, 15, gave her idol a huge hug.

She was seriously injured in last May’s Manchester Arena bombing but has raised £40,000 for the hospital that saved her life.

It was Freya’s second big surprise. She had been eating in a Manchester cafe when the stars of Coronation Street, her favourite show, walked in.

Her stunned reaction when they sat down at the next table and asked for a picture with her was a priceless TV moment.

They then took her on a tour of the Corrie set, where Kym Marsh told her she had won an NHS Heroes award.

2. Liverpool surprise

Liverpool fan Lewis Hine, 17, was touring the club’s ground with mum Emma when captain Jordan Henderson showed up and invited him to join the rest of the squad at their training ground as they prepared for the Champions League Final.

There he mingled with the likes of footballer of the year Mo Salah.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

And manager Jurgen Klopp gave him a hug and his invitation to the awards.

Lewis – in and out hospital for treatment on a brain tumour – organises dances for ill teens and called it had been the best day of

his life.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

3. Thusha

One of the show’s most tender moments is when Thusha Kamaleswaran is reunited with the emergency medics who saved her life when she was five.

Thusha was hit in the crossfire of a gang shootout in South London seven years ago.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

She would have died without the actions of paramedics Sherridan Best and James Lafferty, doctor Vidar Mag-nusson and trauma paramedic Caroline Appleby.

They beamed when Thusha came on stage with TV stars Richard Hammond and Katie Piper to present their award.

4. Papworth - Tom joining them on stage

Surgeons Steven Large and Steven Tsui were joined on stage by Tom Shing, a young man whose life they saved with a pioneering transplant.

They are part of a team at Papworth Hospital which developed the first ever non-beating heart transplant, saving lives and increasing the number of available donor hearts by a third.

The pair received their award on behalf of the hospital from Lord Robert Winston and Dame Shirley Bassey.

5. Sara Rowbotham paying tribute to colleagues

The audience was gripped as award winner Sara Rowbotham named the colleagues who helped her bring the men behind the Rochdale sex abuse scandal to justice.

She said she had not been able to name them in public before for legal reasons, and, as she thanked them one by one, a wave of thunderous applause swept across the room.

6. NHS choir/finale

The audience were on their feet for the finale as the NHS Choir performed a spine-tingling version of A Little Help From My Friends.

They were joined by our winners for a final salute as the show reached its climax.

7. Lynn Lucas speaks of son

Lynn Lucas moved the audience to tears as she spoke about son Chris, who died from a rare form of cancer aged 18.

Lynn, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, set up a charity in his memory, which has raised £2.4million for cancer research.

Peter Andre and Scarlett Moffatt presented Lynn with the NHS Fundraising Hero award.

8. Paul O'Grady

Host Paul brings warmth and a quick wit to the show.

He had the audience in stitches as he joked with celebs including Dame Shirley Bassey and actor Michael Sheen, and chatted with winners and NHS workers. Top work Paul!