Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
PRINCE’S TRUST YOUNG ACHIEVER
Olivia Blackburn
Overcame a series of mental and physical health challenges and personal tragedy to achieve her dream of helping others through nursing.
Diagnosed with epilepsy and cerebral palsy after a mini-stroke in 2007, Olivia also needed major surgery on her jaw due to a condition that affected her speech and ability to eat.
Her poor health meant her education suffered, as she often had to miss classes.
Olivia says: “School was quite a difficult time for me. I also had a skin condition. I used to have to wear bandages around my arms and different clothes instead of normal uniform which had a massive impact on my self-esteem.”
Olivia, now 24, decided to leave education early to focus on her health. She went for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help with her anxiety and depression, and had the operation on her jaw.
But just four months after the surgery, her dad passed away from cancer. Despite her grief, Olivia tried to stay positive.
She began working part-time in a children’s activity and play centre and when her mum was diagnosed with non-hodgkin follicular lymphoma stage 4, she supported her through it.
Olivia won a place on a Prince’s Trust course to help young people gain the skills needed to work in the NHS. Olivia flourished, and after completing the programme, secured a job as a Healthcare Support Worker in the same haematology ward her mum had previously been admitted to.
She’s now on the vocational pathway to becoming a nurse, and says: “The Prince’s Trust and NHS have had a massive impact on my life – as soon as I started the course, I already saw a positive future for myself. A future that I didn’t see before, having a career I would be proud of, and one I love.”
Olivia was stunned to be recognised by chat show queen Lorraine Kelly, who said: “Huge congratulations Olivia, you have overcome so much and the way that you have refused to lie down and let life beat you is just inspirational.”