A teen who underwent chemotherapy received the grades required to pursue law at the university level.
A teen who underwent chemotherapy received the grades required to pursue law at the university level.
A teen who lost an arm to cancer and studied from the hospital during chemo has got the grades she needs to study law at university.
Skye Duncan, 18, missed three years of school and had her limb amputated because of the disease.
She completed lessons online from her hospital bed as she recovered from surgery and chemotherapy.
The inspirational teen has now discovered she achieved excellent results (an A and four Bs) in her exams on Tuesday.
Skye, from Glasgow, Scotland, is now off to Glasgow University to study law.
First to celebrate with her was her twin sister Sara, who also got the grades she needed to go to Glasgow University, where she hopes to specialize in neuroscience.
“I am proud of myself,” Skye said.
“I’m usually very confident but going through this did knock my confidence a bit. So I’m really pleased I got here.”
Five years ago, Skye complained to her parents Ann and Steven that she had a sore arm.
“It didn’t go away, and we went back and forwards with the doctors, trying to find out what was causing it,” explains Ann, a support worker for a homeless service.
“Eventually, she had an x-ray, and they discovered it was bone cancer.
“They amputated her arm within a few weeks and then she had months of chemotherapy.
”But through it all, Skye was so driven, it was unbelievable.”
Ann adds: “Sara is amazing, she has also worked so hard. She missed a lot of school too, and she was always there for her sister.”
Skye’s success is all the more impressive because in March, just as she was preparing for the exams, she was told the cancer had returned.
“I had a sore back, and they discovered it was a collapsed lung, but actually, that was really lucky,” she said.
“If I hadn’t had that, they wouldn’t have discovered the cancer was in my right lung. It was kind of a miracle.”
Skye is in the middle of radiotherapy treatment but she was determined to share her story with the Glasgow Times.
She wanted to pay tribute to her “outstanding” teachers at Eastbank Academy.
“Mr. Miller, who is the deputy head, and my pastoral care teacher Miss McAulay, and principal teacher Miss Turner were absolutely amazing, I wouldn’t have got here without them,” she said.
“In my fourth year, when Covid was happening as well, I just couldn’t get to school.
‘“I thought my education was over at that point. It hit my confidence.
”But I kept going and when I got two National 5s in my fourth year, I was really proud and realized my education was definitely not finished.
“I want to do a bit for the world. And law seems like the way to do that.”
Her mom added: “It has been brutal, what’s happened to Skye, it is so cruel. She has lost about three years of school.
”But she is so dedicated and hardworking, she deserves this. I’m really proud of her.”
Headteacher Jonathan Graham said: “When we were coming up with our school values, we asked pupils what they should mean, and they said ‘to be the best we can be, to work hard and to aim for the stars.’
“Looking at Skye and Sara, that is very fitting. We are all incredibly proud of them both.”
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
