THESE are the faces of some of the nominees who are in the running to become The Daily Echo's hospital hero.

For the pas two months we have teamed up with University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust for the 12th year to search for a new unsung hero to clinch a coveted title in the trust’s Hospital Heroes Awards.

The Daily Echo’s Reader’s Choice Award will be presented to an individual who has gone the the extra mile to provide support to people.

This year's winner will follow in the footsteps of Sarah Hartfree, a paediatric rheumatology nurse specialist at Southampton Children’s Hospital.

Sarah was nominated by mother and daughter Donna Marie Wilkins and Gabrielle Archer, for her care for Gabrielle’s daughter Isabella May.

Dozens of readers have contacted The Daily Echo with their nominations.

Here is an overview of a the unsung heroes we have met so far.

Margaret Hanlon, 62, is a senior health care assistant who works at the Royal South Hants Hospital and Southampton General Hospital.

She has been nominated by Ashleigh Spice, 21, who described Margaret as a "warm character."

Ashleigh said: "My frequent visits to the hospital aren’t generally nice experiences but I always look forward to seeing her smiley face.

"She puts the utmost care into her patients and is always so nice to everyone- it must calm so many people having her around."

Jo Summerton, 42, a paediatric diabetic nurse at Southampton General Hospital, has been nominated by patient Bethan Taylor.

Bethan said: "Jo goes above and beyond to help those in her care, she is passionate and hard working and I honestly do not know what I would’ve done without her.

“There is no one I know more deserving of this award.”

Kim Cooke,32, children’s therapy technical instructor at Southampton General Hospital has been nominated by Lisa, Paul and Katherine Roberts for the “outstanding care” she has been providing Katherine, aged 16.

Katherine, a keen dancer, has been receiving help from Kim once a month over the past year after she had a knee injury.

Mum Lisa said: "It takes a really special person to be able to motivate a teenager to do exercises on a foam roller first thing every morning while her breakfast is in the toaster.

"It would be fantastic if her skills and talent could be recognised.”

Craig Hobbs,29, works as part of the the maintenance team at Southampton General Hospital.

He has been nominated by Luke Smith and his friend for his “excellent and tireless work” while Luke was recovering in hospital during the world cup.

Luke said: "Being a massive football fan and having to spend a week in hospital, I was absolutely gutted to be missing it.

“Craig came and said hello and updated me on the games every day I was in, and also repaired my TV for the England game just in time.

"Nothing was too much trouble."

Dr Neelam Gupta and Dr Shelley Haynes who work at The Princess Anne Hospital received a joint nomination from new dad Matt Watts.

Matt decided to nominate them both as they saved his wife Amanda Venters and son Charlie's lives after they faced life threatening conditions after Charlie was born in November.

Matt said:"Both of these people played a huge part in both Amanda and Charlie’s recoveries and we will never forget them and their teams."

Jane Smart, 46, who works on the Trauma Audit Research Network was nominated by Mark Ainsworth-Smith who is a Consultant Pre-Hospital Care Practitioner.

Mark said: ""Jane works tirelessly, often answering emails at weekends and in the evenings, to ensure that our ambulance crews receive feedback.

"She is always cheerful and helpful and she totally deserves to be a Hospital Hero."

Dr Jessica Bate,42, a a consult paediatric oncologist has been Debbie Martin, whose son, Finn, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in 2015, at the age of three.

Debbie said: "Jessica's kind, sympathetic, always listens to you and puts you at ease, which is an amazing feat when dealing with childhood cancer.

"She is incredibly caring and she is the most fabulous doctor."

Alok Sharma,43, a neonatal consultant has been nominated by by Danielle and Keith Medhurst after he cared for their daughter Chloe, who was born prematurely, before she passed away at seven months old.

Danielle said: “Alok cared for our daughter like she was his own child.

"Though we lost our daughter in the end, he kept her alive for the biggest chunk of her life.

“He got her past the hardest things we thought we’d have to face.

“Without him, we wouldn’t have had her."

Dr James Wilkinson, 48, a consultant interventional cardiologist has been nominated by David Morris, 76, from Woolston after he gave him life saving heart surgery.

David said: He explained everything to me and was always very friendly.

“I was really looked-after, and all the team did a wonderful job.”

Nominations are now closed and the winner of the award will be announced later this month.