Real Stories With Ranvir Singh - Episode 6

In the final episode of the series - on ITV tonight at 8pm - Ranvir Singh and Michael Underwood report on three more ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

Meet 'Roxy'...

Eight-year-old Roxy was born a boy but has been living as a girl for the past two years.

Roxy’s parents knew that something was wrong when their youngest child refused to answer to their boy’s name.

The turning point came when Roxy asked her parents to help her transition into living as a girl full-time. It was something she was already doing at home, but outside in public was an altogether different matter.

One of the biggest challenges the family faced was Roxy’s first day at school dressed as a girl.

Roxy is now happier than ever and feels confident about her future, telling Real Stories that she’ll “Always, every single day want to be a girl” and that growing up “I’ll just be happy."

One Boy and His Horse

When we think of the inner city we, perhaps, wouldn’t automatically think about a horse-riding club. But for one mum, discovering that her autistic son can be helped through contact with animals has transformed both their lives.

Martina lives in Brixton with her husband, her Nan and Granddad and her two sons. Her youngest son, Shay, has just recently been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome.

When Shay started secondary school Martina was concerned because she knew that he didn’t like change. She would speak to as many teachers as possible in the school to explain that...

As Shay was getting older Martina noticed he was paying a lot more attention to animal programmes than anything else. Martina wanted to find a way to get some animal exposure for Shay but living in inner city London that could prove difficult. So when Martina heard about Ebony Horse Riding Club, in Brixton, she decided to take Shay along to see what he thought.

Shay immediately fell in love with the horses and gained a great passion for horse riding.

Shay had been going to the horse-riding club for just two weeks when one of the teachers suggested that Shay’s behaviour could, in fact, be a sign of autism. Martina got her son referred to a specialist and Shay was diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome.

Since joining the horse-riding club Shay has made friends for the first time and has grown much more confident at socialising with people outside of his family. But most importantly Shay is happier than ever.

The Woman Who Wants to be Just Another Face in the Crowd

Michelle Willis is a successful community nurse from Sunderland who enjoys nothing more than meeting her patients.

But the road to being an independent career woman was not easy. Over the years she has had to overcome years of surgery as well as the cruel taunts of strangers.

That’s because Michelle was born with a facial disfigurement; her face didn’t develop properly in the womb and she had a tumour where her right eye should have been.

Michelle has had to have countless operations over the years and it was those experiences that made her determined to work in the medical profession.

But Michelle feels her job is now under threat because she’s been told she’s no longer fit to drive, following a routine visit to have her eyes tested. The optician told her that her peripheral vision would make her unsafe on the road.

Michelle maintains she’s a safe driver. Without a car, she can no longer visit her patients and feels she’s now lost her independence. It has also meant that she now has to use public transport to get to work and has to suffer those cruel taunts all over again.