A GIRL from Hitchin overcame anorexia to record fantastic results in her A-levels in just one year, in memory of her father who died two years ago.

Laura Rutherford, who studied a one-year intensive A-level course at Cambridge Centre for Sixth Form Studies, got As in Religious Studies and English Literature, and a C in psychology.

The 18-year-old, who was diagnosed with anorexia at the age of 12, said her father’s death was “the kick up the backside” that she needed to recover.

Laura added: “I can finally say it, I’ve done it, I’ve completed my A-Levels, and achieved a place at university.

“It hasn’t been an easy journey. Suffering from anorexia has meant that my education has often had to be put on the backburner as I focused on clawing my life back from the illness’ clutches.

“I didn’t want to get better because I didn’t believe it was possible - anorexia was all I knew and there aren’t words to describe the terror I felt imagining being without it.

“I had no hope, yet, by some miracle, the people who loved me – my wonderful family, my endlessly patient friends – refused to give up on me, no matter how much I wanted them to.”

After the death of her dad, Laura was admitted to Forest House Adolescent Unit, where she stayed for five months to recover.

She is now heading to University of Kent to study Comparative Literature.

“As my family all struggled to come to terms with our loss, I began to fight back against the eating disorder that was destroying me,” said Laura.

“Fresh out of the hospital, I moved to Cambridge and started a whirlwind of a year.

“To say it’s been a breeze would be lying, but the amazing teachers and staff of the college have supported me through everything, through all the little slip-ups and the days where the grief became too much to bear.

“Now, after everything, I’m off to university in a month, and I don’t think I could be happier.”