Teen too ill to go to school during bone cancer battle ‘smashes’ her GCSEs

A proud mum has spoken of being "in awe" of her daughter who missed a year of school while battling cancer but has passed her GCSEs 'with flying colours'.

Lauren Fishman was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer , in October 2017 after discovering a lump on her back.

The 16-year-old had to miss more than a year of school while undergoing gruelling chemotherapy treatment and when she returned she had to put in extra work to catch up.

But now the brave youngster is celebrating after passing all her GCSE exams yesterday – achieving an amazing two 6s, four 5 grades, and a 4.

Parents Andrea, 47 and David, 50, and Lauren's siblings Jack, 20 and Ruby, 10 are extremely proud of her.

Andrea said the family from Telford, Shropshire, burst into tears when Lauren opened her letter and found out her "incredible" results.

After a challenging couple of years, "courageous" Lauren has "smashed it," her mum said.

Lauren, who is now in remission, only returned to school in January full time and took her GCSEs this year after being off school since September 2017.

The schoolgirl said she never expected to pass after everything she went through, adding "no words can describe how I felt".

Speaking to Mirror Online, Andrea said: "We all cried when we got the results. We felt so emotional.

"She opened the papers and said 'oh my God I've passed everything' and we all burst into tears.

"Lauren is so brave and so courageous. We are incredibly proud of her – she has smashed it. David and I had said whatever the results, she's already a winner in our eyes.

"She passed all the GCSEs she took. I'm in awe of her.

"To do her GCSEs after so much time off school and to achieve the results she did is incredible."

Lauren added: "No words can describe how I felt, after 14 months off school having treatment for a rare form of bone cancer, I never thought I’d be able to pass my exams, but I did.

"I can’t thank my teachers enough at Thomas Telford School for the support they gave me to enable me to pass my exams."

Lauren will be returning to Thomas Telford School this September to study A Levels in History and Politics and a BTEC qualification in Business.

The sporty teen, who played football for AFC Telford U16s as well as javelin for the Telford Athletics Club, was at school when she found a lump on her back in September 2017.

Lauren went to see the nurse who phoned her mum to tell her what had happened.

Andrea then took Lauren to their GP and the teenager was sent for an X-ray.

Remembering what happened next, Andrea said: "We got a phone call to say they had arranged an emergency CT scan for that afternoon.

"We were then referred to a paediatric consultant, who told us 'there's no easy way to tell you this but it would appear Lauren has bone cancer'.

"It's something you never expect to hear."

Lauren was sent for bone marrow biopsies and on October 4, 2017, it was confirmed she had Ewing's sarcoma, a very rare type of cancerous tumor that grows in your bones or the soft tissue around your bones, such as cartilage or the nerves.

She began her first course of chemotherapy on October 14, just two days before her 15th birthday.

Andrea said: "She had very intense chemotherapy, and I can't tell you how awful it was to watch your child go through it."

And in April 2018, Lauren had surgery to remove the rib her tumour was coming out of.

Andrea said her "brave" daughter then had to have further chemotherapy but fortunately the cancer had not spread.

While going through the treatment, Lauren was too ill to attend school.

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