Hurrah for Raha at awards night
On Thursday 28 November, at the annual Awards Evening of Portsmouth’s Admiral Lord Nelson School (ALNS), Raha Mortezai-Far (17) received The 1805 Club’s ‘Special Award for Personal Endeavour in Overcoming Adversity’.
The 1805 Club, a naval historical charity, is proud to have been associated with ALNS ever since the school’s establishment in 1995. The 1805 Club’s annual award is a specially engraved crystal trophy, recognising a student chosen by the school who displays Nelson’s ability to overcome personal adversity.
In her citation for Raha, the school’s Deputy Headteacher Mrs Katie Holness wrote:
“Raha was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer in Spring of the first year of her GCSE courses. She used an AV1 robot to complete her lessons from hospital or attended in and around her treatment plan and was in remission by the end of the Summer.
“Unfortunately, just before her GCSE examinations began, with only a few months of remission in between, her cancer returned and she again worked in and around her treatment plan, often having chemotherapy immediately before or after an exam and phoning her oncologists herself to make the plans work best to avoid impacting on her education.
“We have only heard her once say ‘This is a bit rubbish’! Her upbeat and ‘get on with it’ attitude has been astounding and as well as being very fond of her, we are very proud of her - as witnessed when the whole school came out in support of our ‘Run for Raha’ charity event.”