A-MAZING Henrietta Demain is celebrating exam success with her friends — but she is no ordinary teenager.
Henrietta, known to her friends as Hetty, has achieved outstanding GCSE results, despite battling a life-threatening illness.
The Bury Grammar School for Girls’ pupil gained 10 A* and A grades after undergoing intensive treatment for Hodgkin’s disease.
While her classmates were cramming in last-minute revision, brave Hetty was having chemotherapy and coming to terms with losing her hair.
Hetty, aged 16, of St Gabriel’s Close, Rochdale, said she was not expecting such good results.
“I am really pleased, especially with my German, but it has been really hard with all my treatment,” she said.
“One day I sat my maths exam in the morning, then went straight to The Christie in Manchester for treatment in the afternoon.
“I had treatment every day, then a week off, then it all started again.
“It was really hard doing the exams because the chemotherapy made me quite sick. I don’t know how I coped really.”
Hetty was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a form of blood cancer — weeks before sitting her exams in May.
She battled through her illness and managed to gain six A*s and four As.
Now she is going to Bury Grammar School for Girls sixth form to study A-level biology, geography, mathematics and chemistry.
Headmistress Bobby Georghiou said: “We could not be more proud of Hetty. Her courage is inspiring.
“Her achievement would be excellent in any case, but in the circumstances it is breathtaking. The whole school community is thrilled for her.”
Although she is feeling better, Hetty faces more treatment before she fully recovers. She will continue chemotherapy until the end of November, followed by three weeks of radiotherapy.
Hetty said: “It was hard when I first started losing my hair, but it’s not so bad now. I have had lots of support and my mum is so pleased for me, she had to get the tissues out, and everyone has been asking how I have done.”
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