Bella, who joined The Marist in Year 7 in 2017, is on cloud nine after achieving an incredible A Level result, despite a brain tumour threatening to set back her studies.

Last Thursday, Bella was thrilled to discover that she had achieved a B in her A Level Geography.

In 2016, Bella was diagnosed with a brain tumour. After several lengthy surgeries in the space of 6 weeks, and because of the pressure on her brain, she was left unable to speak, swallow, stand, walk or even sit unaided. In 2020, the tumour grew back, and Bella had to have more surgery and two years of chemotherapy. The results of this brain injury still affect many areas of her everyday life, yet Bella has worked extremely hard to prevent it from impacting her studies.

Bella received rehabilitative care at The Children’s Trust following numerous operations and praises them for their support throughout her road to recovery.

‘The Children’s Trust have continued throughout my teenage years to support me when I needed it, from sending specialist teachers into The Marist to help the teaching staff understand the best way to support, to helping me with life skills outside of school.’

In May, Bella’s classmates in Year 13 raised £525 for the charity on their last day of school.

Bella says, ‘They are the only charity of this kind in the whole of the UK, they need to fundraise continually in order to keep providing this much needed support to children with a brain injury.’

We are incredibly proud of Bella and her strength and perseverance and wish her every success for the future.