The father of murdered teenage footballer Kiyan Prince said receiving the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year “doesn’t happen to guys like me”.
Dr Mark Prince OBE started a justice campaign after his son, 15 - who played for Queens Park Rangers’ youth team - was fatally stabbed trying to break up a fight outside his north London school in May 2006.
Dr Prince dedicated his life to The Kiyan Prince Foundation, which steers young people away from knife crime through boxing.
The 55-year-old was presented with the award, recognising outstanding achievement in the face of adversity, from Barry McGuigan live on BBC One on Tuesday.
“I was shocked,” he told the Standard after the MediaCity ceremony.
“I’m a homeless kid from Tottenham. It’s an inspiration for anybody going through any trauma, grief or the hardest and toughest situations in their lives. It gives people hope.”
Dr Prince said when Kiyan died all he thought about was “revenge and anger” towards his murderer Hannad Hasan, who was then 16.
On hearing the news his son had died from doctors, he punched through a hospital wall, leaving blood on the floor.
“Love conquers all because in that moment it felt right to kill Hannad, to snap his neck, to find his house and take out the first person that comes to the door so they feel how I feel,” he said.
“But that wasn’t right. I chose love instead of bitterness, anger and revenge. I used my love and pain to transform children and their parents’ lives.
“I know my son would be proud that I continued to live that way.”
The Helen Rollason Award was introduced to Sports Personality of the Year in 1999 in memory of the BBC Sport journalist and presenter, who died of cancer that year at the age of 43.
Dr Prince had a tough start to life, finding himself on the streets and becoming involved in crime and drugs.
He turned his life around through boxing and the discipline it brought him - culminating in him winning the IBF and WBO intercontinental heavyweight titles.
Three years ago, the Fifa 21 video game used AI technology to show Kiyan as a 30-year-old professional footballer, allowing gamers to play as him.
QPR listed him as a squad member on all matchday programmes, having already renamed their ground the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium in 2019 for three seasons.
Donate to Dr Prince’s work by visiting: thekpf.com
