Award nomination for courageous teen

Kevin Unitt

01 May 2008

A BRAVE Leamington teenager who has battled Cystic Fibrosis is up for a top award at a star-studded awards ceremony in London later this month.
Amy Holdright is one of four people nominated in the Against the Odds category at the 13th Breathing Life Awards being presented on May 28.
The 16-year-old has been recognised for showing great courage and bravery in the face of increasing illness and physical difficulties.
When she was nine she was given just weeks to live, but fought back to gain excellent SAT results despite missing many days at school.
Around this time she learnt to swim and raised £800 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust at a swimming gala.
Two years ago she was put on the transplant list, and had a lung function less than a quarter of the normal level, though she still managed to achieve good GCSE grades.
Amy's health continued to deteriorate however, before she was finally able to have a lung transplant last September.
In the months since she has started A-levels and now wants to study History at university, after a gap year working in animal conservation in Africa - plans for a future she perhaps never thought she would see.
Mum Rachel is proud of her achievements, saying: "Amy has been very ill for many years yet still managed to continue with her school work and do so well.
"She has such determination, which not many 16-year-olds seem to have, and that determination has certainly deserved this recognition."
Cystic Fibrosis is the UK's most common life-threatening inherited disease.
The annual awards event - celebrating the outstanding achievements of people Cystic Fibrosis - will also be broadcast on the Sky Real Lives channel at 9.30pm on June 1.
The ceremony, to be hosted by Carol Smillie and attended by an array of celebrities, will also be attended by Kenilworth's Daniel Cullen, 14, who is one of three people across the country nominated for the Artistic Award. Daniel has already received many awards and trophies for his poetry, raising money for African villages through paid performances, as well as finding it the perfect outlet for his feelings about having Cystic Fibrosis.

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