Boy wins award for learning sign language to help a school friend

Now this is what friends are for. Ross Kelly, a year six student at Amaroo School in Canberra, Australia has been recognised with a Fred Hollows Humanity Award for going above and beyond when it came to helping a fellow classmate, Isam Gurung.

Gurung, who is profoundly deaf, moved to the school from a specialist school around a year ago. Initially very shy and not keen on attending class, Kelly was determined to find a way to help the new student settle in.

"We started out writing notes to each other and I decided this wasn't very efficient because there was always a delay," Kelly told ABC News.

So Kelly stepped it up by learning Auslan (Australian sign language) so they could both communicate with each other. Now they've become great friends too.

"Ross has used his skills to interpret whole school assemblies, pass on messages to Isam and sign at Scout events," their teacher Sara Jayn Middleton, said in a statement via email. "His attitude towards inclusivity is one many can only be in awe of."

The school does provide an interpreter, but there's something very special about having a friend that can communicate with you -- particularly one that's picked up a language to do just that. The pair hang out at Scouts, with Gurung recently hosting a deaf awareness night.

"We played a game with Auslan, we taught all the hearing Scouts the signs and the Auslan alphabet and the numbers up to 10," Isam's father, Indra Gurung, told the ABC.

Winning the top award allows Kelly to nominate a charity for a A$5,000 (US$3,779) donation, and he's chosen a school eye-health program in Cambodia run by the Fred Hollows Foundation.

It's the gift just keeps on giving.