'She's the definition of resilient': Teen diagnosed with bowel disease months before exam season triumphs in A-levels
A teenager has passed her A-levels after being diagnosed with an auto-immune disease
Being diagnosed with bowel disease has not deterred a dedicated teenager from passing her A-levels with flying colours.
Katie, from Portsmouth High School, has endured relentless hurdles when it comes to her health after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of nine and liver disease two years later. And at the start of mock exam season, the 17-year-old, who also has coeliac disease, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis - a type of long-term inflammatory bowel disease.
The latest medical setback meant Katie had to attend hospital regularly for infusions throughout the mock season. During her second appointment, the teen had such a severe reaction to her medication her “body was frozen” and she had to be rushed to hospital.
Jennie, Katie’s mum, said: “During her second infusion, she had a massive reaction so she was blue lighted to hospital. It meant her body was frozen - she was basically paralysed and when she came out of hospital a week later she was wheelchair bound. She didn’t go back to school that half term and she was so fatigued to revise - it was a massive set back.”
Despite her health scare, the inspirational teen has secured an A* in business, a B in physical education and a B in politics, granting her a place at Loughborough University where she will study marketing.
She said: “I feel really good. I wasn’t expecting it so I’m really happy. It was tough - I was diagnosed with bowel disease so right through mocks, I was in and out of hospital and then in March I was in hospital for a week because I couldn’t move and then when I came back it was the exams. I need infusions once a month and they take all day and then I would go and do the exams the next day. My mum suggested missing A-levels this year and doing them next year instead but I wanted to do it and I’m really happy I did - It’s something I can’t change so I just need to keep going.”
Katie’s dad, Matt, said she is the “definition of resilient” and they “couldn’t be prouder”. Her two sisters joined her parents at the school to see the outcome of her perseverance.
Jennie said: “I think she has done really really well and it is all off her own back and she has had a really hard run up to it so we are really proud of her.”