Stars all the way for student in anorexia battle

The teenager, from North Ferriby, near Hull, had severe anorexia and was soon to be transferred to a specialist eating disorder unit in London for several months.

Incredibly, despite continual treatment that meant the 16-year-old was only able to attend nine months of her GCSE classes, she has swept the board with her results, achieving A* grades in all ten subjects.

Laura, who attends Hymers College in Hull, said she was delighted with the tally and plans to take A-levels in English Literature, Modern History, Spanish and Latin.

"I am very proud of what I have done," she said. "I worked really hard. It makes me think that if I can do this I can do anything.

"I never thought that I would get better, but now I think that I can.

"Eighteen months ago I was in a hospital bed with a tube stuffed down my throat – to come back from that has been the hardest thing that I have ever done."

She said she still had a lot of work to do to regain full health but was recovering well and optimistic for her future.

She said her parents were very pleased, and she hoped to be a writer. "I was hoping to get a few A*s but I didn't think that I would get all ten.

"I really love English. I want to be a writer; I would like to try screenplay writing."

Her problems started when she was 12, and serious concerns about her weight a year later saw her taken into hospital.

She was discharged but in 2008, three months into her GCSEs, she was readmitted, and would not return to full time school for a year, starting again six months before her final exams.

She said she was able to study a little during her treatment but there were no specialist teachers available at the eating disorder unit and she had little energy for learning.

"I got really ill when I was 13, which was during Year 9, and then

after that I was called in a second time during Year 10.

"That second time during Year 10 I was worse than before. I weighed about 5 stone 9lbs.

"I went to hospital in November, and was there for Christmas and my birthday.

"They then transferred me to a specialist eating disorder unit in

London. It was a full-time in-patient unit but I could go home at weekends.

"I was able to study a bit there but there were no specialist teachers for areas like history and modern languages. And I was so ill I didn't really have the energy for studying anyway. It was very hard to focus on my learning.

"By the time I was discharged back into Year 11, it was three weeks before my mock exams."

She finds it difficult to explain how her illness started, and is still trying to understand the issue herself.

"People think that it is all about body image but it is far more complicated than that. It is very hard to explain," she said. "I have always been a perfectionist with my schooling, but I stopped measuring myself by my grades and instead measured myself by my weight.

"I had fairly low self esteem and you assume that if you lose weight you will feel better.

"So far I have spoken to my dad and he is really happy and my mum is thrilled as well."

The pupils and staff at a school in South Yorkshire were also celebrating yesterday after overcoming a devastating fire to achieve record results.

The future looked bleak for pupils at Campsmount Technology College in Norton, Doncaster, when a blaze destroyed most of the buildings last December and with them the school's books, computers, equipment and pupils' coursework.

But 95 per cent of Year 11 pupils who sat their exams in the summer achieved 5 A*-C grades.

Headteacher Andy Sprakes said: "Once again, this shows the tremendous spirit that exists at Campsmount. To gain so much success in a period of such adversity is an amazing achievement."

More than 60 firefighters tackled the blaze at the school.