Author: sarah.rastrick@act4addenbrookes.org.uk

In some exciting news that we can share today – Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) has helped fund an advanced AI feature for a groundbreaking hand-held newborn eye screening device.

This innovation aims to further improve the accuracy of diagnosing congenital cataracts – the leading cause of avoidable childhood blindness worldwide – when babies are examined in maternity wards shortly after their birth.

Although part of an ongoing clinical trial, early findings look positive.

As part of our work, ACT doesn’t just fund new high-tech equipment for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie but also groundbreaking research like the NeoCam, which Dr Louise Allen, consultant paediatric ophthalmologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, has been working on.

ACT helped fund early development and testing of the first prototype device – known as CatCam – and later awarded an innovation grant so that the AI feature can be jointly funded with 42 Technology (42T), a product design and innovation consultancy, based near Cambridge, that is helping Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) to develop the AI feature.

Paul White, our Director of Communications and Impact, said: “One of our remits as the official charity for Addenbrooke’s is to help fund researchers like Dr Allen with their early research work and clinical trials, often investing at a stage where others are not quite ready to come on board.”

“By helping to fund innovative work like this in the early stages means we have the potential to help medical professionals like Dr Allen to make some quite innovative, groundbreaking discoveries within their field.”

To find out more about this exciting new development, read 42T’s news release below.

NEWS RELEASE BY 42 TECHNOLOGY (42T)

42 Technology (42T) is helping Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) to develop an advanced AI feature for a groundbreaking hand-held newborn eye screening device.  This innovation aims to further improve the accuracy of diagnosing congenital cataracts – the leading cause of avoidable childhood blindness worldwide – when babies are examined in maternity wards shortly after their birth.

A prototype of the Neocam ophthalmic imaging device is currently being evaluated in a multi-centre clinical trial funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) as part of the Digital Imaging versus Ophthalmoscopy (DIvO) study.  This five-year study, involving 30 NHS maternity units across England, aims to determine whether Neocam’s digital imaging technology can improve the detection of congenital cataracts compared with the standard ophthalmoscope test, which uses a bright visible light.

Although the final study outcomes are not due to be reported until 2027, the team has already noted some early positive findings.  For example, several babies have been diagnosed with rare but significant visual conditions that were missed by the standard screening tests being done at the same time.

The new AI feature will enable Neocam to immediately assess the quality of images as they are taken, providing instant feedback to maternity staff on whether a captured image is clear enough for accurate evaluation.  If an image does not meet the quality required, users can simply retake it.  In future, the AI could also potentially be developed to alert the screening midwife or GP to a possible cataract or other eye abnormality but this is not the prime objective for the first AI model.

The software engineering team at 42T will use 46,000 de-identified images from the DIvO study to train the machine learning model.  The aim being to integrate the new edge AI algorithms into the first commercially-available eye screening units so the device can analyse images using its existing processing capability – without added costs, needing any hardware redesign or impacting device performance.

The AI development project is being funded jointly by 42T and with an innovation grant from Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, which also helped fund early development and testing of the first prototype device called CatCam.

Dr Louise Allen, consultant paediatric ophthalmologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge and Neocam’s inventor said: “This novel eye screening technology has been designed to be an affordable, easy-to-use tool to improve the accuracy of diagnosing congenital cataracts in babies.  The new added AI feature will build on 42 Technology’s previous design and development work, while ensuring the device is even easier for midwives and GPs to use when it is launched commercially.”

42T was appointed in 2018 to help support development of the Neocam prototype, from initial design to clinical trials.  The company played a key role in developing the industrial design, user interface, system architecture, optics and electronics, as well as producing 60 prototype Neocam units for early field trials by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in sub-Saharan Africa.

One of the UK’s leading property and business consultancies that took on the challenge of fundraising for a charity that was based miles away from some of its satellite offices has proved that the right cause and good communication can blow any challenge out of the water – after raising a staggering £38,664.38 for the charity.

Brown&Co joined forces with Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) in April last year, pledging to engage all their 300 employees and fundraise across every one of their 10 UK-based offices.

The firm chose to fundraise for ACT in memory of their colleague Danielle, or Dannii, Spauls, who was treated in Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge but sadly died following a short illness. As the official charity for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, ACT funds cutting-edge equipment, groundbreaking research, and improvements to the environment for both staff and patients, above and beyond what the NHS is able to provide.

Marketing Manager Georgia Dawson, who is based in the firm’s Norwich office, said it was a ‘unanimous decision’ to fundraise for ACT after losing Dannii.

Brown&Co Partner, Andrew Fundell, said: “Each year, Brown&Co selects a charity to support. Following the loss of our colleague and friend, Danielle Spauls, after a short illness, we had no hesitation in choosing ACT in recognition of the incredible care and support the hospital provided to her and her family.”

“Though Dannii was based in our Norwich office, all 10 Brown&Co offices came together in her memory, dedicating the year to fundraising for ACT. From conquering the Yorkshire Three Peaks to taking on the Oxford Half Marathon and a Norfolk coastal walk, our teams united in her honour to make a difference.”

Asked if she would recommend other firms, with satellite offices, to fundraise for ACT in this way, Georgia said: “Absolutely, it is so worthwhile. One of our proudest moments was knowing that the money that we are fundraising is going towards funding innovation and specialist staff and specialist equipment to help people like Dannii and their families. So I would say regardless of where you are in the UK, if you wanted to become a corporate partner, I would say with ACT it’s made as easy as it can be.”

Talking about the initial work to get all the staff on board, Georgia said: “Bringing all the offices together was a key focus. With our vast network, with offices across the UK and as far North as Humber, we wanted to ensure everyone felt connected. To do this, Natasha, ACT’s Corporate Partnerships Manager, set up a call with each office and made sure they all had tailored messaging and a particular focus point to drive engagement and that massively helped to not only get employees on board but also help donations come in from the local communities.”

“As well as honouring a colleague, Natasha really stressed the importance of the research that is carried out at Addenbrooke’s – and that it will benefit beyond the Eastern region to hospitals across the whole of the UK.”

“She also came along to our quiz at our Norwich office that was our biggest fundraising event, raising a total of £7,000, and brought a letter with her written by one of the surgeons that had cared for Dannii, which was extremely moving. It was that extra touch that really helped to engage employees and also our clients as well.”

After 12 months of fundraising, Brown&Co presented a cheque for £38,664.38 to Natasha Robertson at their head office in Norwich.

Speaking at the event, Natasha said: “We are so grateful for all the hard work of each and every Brown&Co employee who threw themselves into fundraising with such passion, despite some of them never having heard of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, and Addenbrooke’s Hospital. The fact that all offices came together to raise such an impressive figure shows the high esteem that Addenbrooke’s is held in and that the work it does extends beyond the region both nationally and globally.”

Georgia said fundraising across the satellite offices had brought staff closer – describing this year’s efforts as “larger and more collaborative than ever before.’’

Some of the events included the Lincoln office completing the Yorkshire Three Peaks; the Norfolk offices completing a 12.5 mile coastal walk from Cromer to Cley next the Sea; the St Neots office undertaking a 24-mile bike ride from their offices to the Astra Zeneca hub on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus; and the Banbury office completing the Oxford Half Marathon. In addition to this, the Humber office hosted a clay pigeon shooting afternoon and across the board there were also quiz nights, raffle sweeps, sweepstakes, dress down days and cake sales.

To find out how your company can make a life-saving difference through a partnership with ACT, please get in touch by emailing: corporatepartnerships@act4addenbrookes.org.uk

An inspiring mother-of-three who broke her neck on an obstacle course is running this year’s London Marathon to thank medical staff at Addenbrooke’s who she says saved her life.

Liza Putwain, 44, who lives just outside Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, was taking part in a challenge obstacle course – one she had run every year since its launch – when she was flipped from one of the obstacles and broke her neck.

She was taken to Ipswich Hospital before being transferred to Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge where she underwent surgery and stayed for her four-week recovery.

Now Liza, a film studies teacher at Abbeygate Sixth Form College in Bury St Edmunds, hopes to raise as much money as she can to thank staff who saved her life.

Liza will be running for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) in this year’s London Marathon on Sunday 27 April. As the official charity for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, ACT funds cutting-edge equipment, ground-breaking research, and improvements to the environment for both staff and patients, above and beyond what the NHS is able to provide.

Proving all her hard work and rehabilitation has been worth it, Liza took part in the Cambridge Half Marathon earlier this month – making it her third fastest half yet, coming in with a time of 2.07.45.  “I was totally gobsmacked,” she said.

Liza, whose three children were aged between 9 and 16 at the time of her accident in September 2023, had been running the obstacle course in memory of her husband, Ian (pictured left), who had died unexpectedly eight months earlier following complications that developed from a virus that the whole family had had, including their three children; daughters Ella and Sophie and son, Charlie.

Liza ran the challenge obstacle course with her daughter, Ella, and close friends, Xav and Debs and their son Max. She was less than five miles in when tragedy struck, and she was flipped from an inflatable seesaw and broke her neck.

“I knew straight away I had broken my neck. I heard it snap and then I just felt the feeling drain from my neck down. It was a massive shock and of course I just thought, ‘That’s it. Game over’.”

Liza’s spine was realigned whilst she was still awake. She then went under general anaesthetic so metal could be placed in her neck to support her broken vertebrae.

Looking back at the care she received at Addenbrooke’s, Liza has nothing but praise for all the medical staff who cared for her along the way – from the paramedics to her surgeon and clinical staff on the ward.

“The paramedics were amazing. I remember one of them telling me on the way there it would be really shocking when I got to hospital as there would be a whole team on me, so he really helped prepare me for what was going to happen. And it’s really weird because I don’t know who any of them are, I don’t know any of their names. I could walk past them in the street and not know it was them.”

“I saw some paramedics in Addenbrooke’s in the coffee shop and told them about my accident and said to them, ‘I know it wasn’t you but I just want to tell you how much of a difference your colleague made in that moment because you will have done that for someone else and they won’t be able to thank you either and tell you what a difference you made to them at that time.”

Liza also praised the female doctor she met on her arrival. “There was a female doctor, I don’t know who she was, but she was so good. I thought I was going to be sick and I was really worried that I was going to choke because I couldn’t move.”

She was taken to the Neuro Critical Care Unit (NCCU) where she spoke to a doctor who had been visiting from Africa and says: “It occurred to me then that if this had happened to me in another place, or another time, I would be dead. Thank God for the fact I live near Addenbrooke’s and it was 2023.”

Liza also has huge praise for her surgeon, Mark Kotter – “Not just because he performed the surgery but because of how he was afterwards. He was so caring and lovely. It’s one thing to be able to cut you open and perform the surgery, but he had so much empathy too.”

For Liza, her accident was the first time she had ever broken a bone. “I’ve done lots of crazy things in the past. I grew up horse riding; I’ve done obstacle courses and coasteering where you jump off cliffs into water, but I’d never broken any bones before.”

When she came round from surgery, she was still unable to move because of the damage to her spinal cord and had to rely on nurses to do things like scratch her nose. Despite this, she says she felt ecstatic after her operation.

‘I kept thinking I’m alive and I can talk! There was no damage to my vocal cords. My friends Jo and Pennie came to see me and we just cried because we were so happy.”

It was then she told staff in NCCU that she had planned to run the London Marathon the following April. Whilst no-one was able to conclusively tell her she would walk again, she said the hope was there. “They were the ones who told me I could do it and that became my motivation, something to aim for.”

The feeling gradually returned in Liza’s legs and a week after her operation she was transferred to a ward. “They kept trying to sit me up, but I had postural hypertension, which affected my blood pressure, so I couldn’t sit up for long.”

She said the dark times came when she was worrying about her kids (pictured above). “I really worried about them. My dad and sister took it in turns to stay overnight with them but Ella, who had just started sixth form, basically ran the house. Talking to her afterwards she just said she realised she had to grow up and it was down to her.”

But she said there were funny moments with her kids too. “We messaged lots and face-timed. And as they got more used to me being here, they would send me links to Amazon to things they wanted me to buy. Another time, Ella messaged to ask if she could get another piercing and I was like, ‘whatever’.”

“Another time, I looked at her Instagram and she was wearing a jumper that I’d bought and not worn yet. I had to give it to her cause she looked so good in it. Other times they’d call me up and tell me, Charlie’s done this, or Sophie’s done that. And I was like, ‘I cannot sort out an argument from my hospital bed.”

Liza said one of the hardest things for her following her accident was the sense of powerlessness that comes when you can’t move and have to rely entirely on someone else to help you – “You feel very infantilised because you have to ask someone to help you go to the toilet and wait until somebody’s ready to give you a shower.”

Liza took her first tentative steps, using a walker, two weeks after her operation. “I was so scared; I was so wobbly. It was like a shuffle of a few steps to sit in a chair. But it felt amazing. I had completed marathons before, and it was that kind of level of achievement for me.”

She returned home a month after surgery with her sister and best friends there to help her. “I was just so glad to go home but at the same time so scared. I couldn’t do much at all really, just a slow steady walk. I couldn’t move my right arm, and I am right-handed so I had to use my left arm to lift my right arm to help me clean my teeth and I could just about wash my face. The kids would go to school and it would take me all day just to put a load of washing on and hang it out. It was very frustrating.”

Liza – who wants to be as open about her recovery as possible to help others – said her friends were amazing, even helping to shave her armpits – “It was the first thing I wanted to do when I got home. I could lift my left arm but not my right so my friend Jo held my arm up while my other friend Pennie shaved my armpit for me.”

She said doing anything again for the first time was scary – from leaving the hospital, to going for a walk to driving, but said everyone in her local community helped by signing up for jobs on a Facebook help page – “Everyone rallied round and did so much.”

Liza’s neck brace was removed six weeks after her surgery and she started having physio, including Pulsed Magnetic Field Therapy. Three months after her surgery, she had her first session with a personal trainer, started working with weights, and did her first run in March 2024 – six months after her accident.

“It was so hard not to cry. I mean, I did cry. When you don’t know if you’re going to be able to walk again, it feels amazing to be able to do it.”

During her recovery she fell over on a run and sprained her ankle and broke her finger and then in August last year had a cyst removed from her neck.

She ran her first half marathon in September last year, three days before the anniversary of her accident saying – “I’ve run tonnes before that, but I will never forget doing that one and being able to do it.”

Lasting effects of the accident include Liza not being able to feel her fingertips on her right hand and only a couple on her left. The soles of her feet feel tingly constantly and are painful when cold, and her reactions are not as fast as they were – “The amount of plates and cups and stuff I’ve broken because I’m a fraction of a second too late.”

Liza is running this year’s London Marathon on 27 April for ACT as a way of thanking all the hospital staff who helped save her life and said “I’ve got loads of people coming down to watch me. It’s going to be really emotional.”

Asked why she wanted to fundraise for ACT, Liza said: “I love Addenbrooke’s. It’s weird because you could go one way or the other, and you could be like, I never want to see that hospital again, but I feel so safe when I am here.”

“Being in hospital for as long as I was you just realise how much additional support is needed. Everyone is doing the best they can but the NHS is just so overstretched and it’s like I say to everybody, you just don’t know when you will need it. You hope it won’t be you but at some point, it probably is going to be you or your loved ones or someone that you know.”

Click here to donate to Liza’s Just Giving Page. Click here to read more of her story, and her recovery.

If you have a place in the London Marathon and would like to run for #TeamAddenbrooke’s please email our fundraising team.

It’s Rare Disease Day 2025, and we are sharing a Q & A interview by Kitty Caller who carried out some work experience with us last summer.

Kitty interviewed Dr. Carmen Minea, trainee Consultant Doctor, and Miss Ruby Cross, Clinical Nurse Specialist Inherited Metabolic Disorders, from the Lysosomal Disorders Unit at Addenbrooke’s, finding out many interesting facts about rare diseases along the way.

We were intrigued to learn how rare diseases are named and whether is it possible to prevent diseases being passed on through developments in genomics. Read on to find out more…

Has ACT ever helped your department?

ACT has supported us in attending a national conference. This was highly appreciated. Participating in conferences and courses enhances our knowledge of rare diseases which then translates into better care of our patients.

What counts as a rare inherited disease?

 Inherited metabolic diseases (IMD) are a group of genetic, inherited disorders of the metabolism.

A rare disease is a condition that affects less than five in 10,000 people of the general population.

How many different types of diseases do you treat?

There are over are over 500 inherited metabolic disorders. Some of those diseases are more common than others. For that reason, we only see some of these diseases in our Lysosomal Unit in Cambridge. It is not unusual to have only one patient with a particular condition.

Please can you give an example of a rare inherited disease?

Phenylketonuria, homocystinuria and maple syrup urine disease are 3 examples of inherited rare disorders which are screened for via a blood spot from a heel prick test in newborn babies.

Please can you explain the details of how these diseases are transmitted?

The majority of inherited metabolic disorders are inherited from your parents. Most frequently the parents will be healthy people with an affected copy of the gene each one. When a child inherits the two affected genes, one from each parent, they will manifest the disease. This is known as an autosomal recessive inheritance.

There are other types of inheritance where only one copy of the gene is needed from one affected parent to have the disease. This is called autosomal dominant or X-linked inheritance. 

Sometimes, a mutation in the gene can happen spontaneously when the child is developing as an embryo. In this case, that child will be the first one in the family to have the disease.

Is it possible to prevent diseases being passed on through developments in genomics?

Many of our patients have the possibility to have a baby without the condition is possible using pre-implantation genetic testing. This will select the embryo which will develop into a healthy baby.

Are any inherited diseases also contagious?

No. All the diseases are passed on through genetics, not pathogens, and therefore cannot be spread from person to person.

How many people in the UK have such diseases?

There are currently around 20,000 children and adults living with an inherited metabolic disorder in the UK.

How difficult is it to diagnose people with rare inherited diseases?

As we already mentioned, some of these diseases are screened for at birth. However, for the large majority of people with these conditions the diagnosis pathway is not very easy.

Some of the diseases will manifest in the first years of life and will have typical symptoms which can be easily spotted by a specialist in rare diseases. Sometimes the picture will not be so clear, especially when the disease manifests in adulthood, and the time until diagnosis can be up to 5-7 years.

This is the case for Pompe Disease in adults, one of the rare conditions which we see here; patients with this condition are seen by many specialists before the diagnosis is made. Also, we have to keep in mind that most doctors and other medical staff are not familiar with rare diseases, and this makes the diagnosis even more difficult.

How are rare diseases identified?

The diseases that are responsible for different metabolism problems can be identified by biochemical tests. Because the diseases are caused by genetics, most patients who present symptoms are diagnosed through genomic testing.

How do they get named?

This is a very interesting question. A rare metabolic disease occurs when a defective gene results in an enzyme deficiency and, as a result, another substance will accumulate and be responsible for the disease’s manifestation. In this case the disease could be named for the substance that accumulates – an example is phenylketonuria. Sometimes a disease will be named for the missing enzyme.

We have several diseases that are named by the person who discovered them. This is the case of Pompe Disease, which was named after the pathologist Johannes C. Pompe who first described the disease in a baby.

Is having a rare inherited disease necessarily a bad thing for the patient?

For some diseases, we have effective treatment which must be maintained for life. The treatment could be a burden for some of the patients, but they can have a perfectly healthy life. This is the case for patients with Gaucher Disease.

There are some inherited rare diseases where patients must follow a strict diet during their childhood. When they become an adult, the diet can be less restrictive and they can have a normal life.

We are still trying to understand why some people can have a specific genetic mutation and biochemical alteration in their blood, but they never manifest the disease. 

What do you find so interesting about working in this field?

Rare Diseases is a very special area to work where we continually learn new things about the disease and patients. The rarity of the diseases keeps professionals from all over the world working together for our patients’ benefit. It is also highly rewarding and comes with a lot of responsibility to carefully deal with complex patients.

If someone wanted to work in this field, what would they need to study?

People with different backgrounds are now working in rare diseases after finishing their normal training in an area. From doctors and nurses to people with an interest in advocating for patients affected with rare diseases, I would say that this is not an ordinary job, it is a vocation.

Visit www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk/donate to support the Rare Diseases Department at Addenbrooke’s.

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in children worldwide and more than two thirds of the survivors suffer longer term problems.

The most severely injured are managed by monitoring blood and brain pressure to set treatment targets – with the potential to improve outcomes by individualising targets via real-time analysis of routinely collected data.

This system of monitoring is known as ‘continuous assessment of cerebrovascular autoregulation (CA) using pressure reactivity index (PRx).”

Prior to the STARSHIP study, data collection for cerebrovascular autoregulation monitoring in paediatric traumatic brain injury was limited to single-centre studies, or looking back at past events, suggesting the data may be ‘inadequate.’

However, the study, led by Dr Shruti Agrawal (R), a paediatric intensivist and paediatric trauma lead at Cambridge University Hospitals, collected data from 10 UK Paediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) over five years and focused on 135 children under 16 years old and a multitude of factors associated with favourable outcomes, unfavourable outcomes and deaths. The aim was to identify critical thresholds of PRx in relation to outcome and create a research database.

The study findings support PRx monitoring in paediatric traumatic brain injury which could be used to fine-tune treatment targets with the potential of improving outcomes in this vulnerable group of patients. The improved data resource will ultimately be opened to third-party investigators, encouraging continued research and collaboration to help improve understanding and outcome for paediatric traumatic brain injury.

Dr Agrawal said: “Understanding the underpinning principles and management of raised intracranial pressure and brain perfusion is essential for reducing the morbidity and mortality of traumatic brain injuries.”

By extending the collection of data to multiple centres, Dr Agrawal said the STARSHIP database offers ‘a unique opportunity of ongoing research and data collection.”

Helping the study were departments within the University of Cambridge; Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust; Birmingham Children’s Hospital; Great Ormond Street Hospital; Leeds Children’s Hospital; Manchester Children’s Hospital; Nottingham Children’s Hospital; Oxford University Hospitals; Royal London Hospital; Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Southampton Children’s Hospital.

The study was funded by Action Medical Research for Children and Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), sponsored by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and supported by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and the NIHR Clinical Research Network.

Shelly Thake, Chief Executive at ACT, said: “We were delighted to be able to help fund this important study, which was only possible thanks to the generosity of our incredible supporters, some of whom will unfortunately have direct experience of the challenges associated with traumatic brain injury in children.”

Dr Caroline Johnston, senior research manager, Action Medical Research, added: “Funding research to further our understanding of traumatic brain injury and the long-term consequences is important and brings hope to children and their families. We are delighted to have partnered with Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust to work towards improving the understanding and treatment of severe traumatic brain injuries in children.”

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Mia Jack, 18, from Soham was one of 135 children who joined the Starship study and applauded the research and those helping her, saying: “Anything that helps with traumatic brain injury in children – and raises awareness of it at the same time – has got to be a good thing.”

Mia was thrown over the handlebars of a quadbike, and hit a tree headfirst, during a family activity day when she was 12 and put into an induced coma at the scene before being airlifted to Addenbrooke’s. Part of her skull was removed to relieve pressure on her brain in an operation called a craniectomy, but immediately after she needed more surgery to remove a blood clot.

Music-loving Mia, who lives in with sister Isabella Jack,19, mum Angela Paine and her partner Stuart Jack, woke up when she heard a ukulele being played on the ward.

To Angela’s dismay Mia didn’t recognise her and could not walk or talk. But over several difficult weeks, Mia’s determination along with the help of specialists, meant she was finally well enough for the next stage.

After a brief rest at home, she went to The Children’s Trust in Surrey – a charity -which offered a two-month rehabilitation programme involving physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and hydrotherapy.

As she continued her recovery, Mia would play the piano in the common room. She later returned to Addenbrooke’s to have a titanium plate fitted over the hole in her skull, during which she says David Guetta’s hit ‘Titanium’ became something of a “personal anthem” – and part of her piano playing repertoire.

Cambridge Centre for Paediatric Neuropsychological Rehabilitation offered Mia support over three months, including counselling. It helped her overcome the inevitable low moments, which was also helpful to the family.

The teenager was relieved to return to school and successfully moved up to Cambridge Regional College where she is in her second year of a hairdressing course.

She continues to sing, play the piano, and loves dancing, gymnastics and acting. She hopes to undertake a performing arts course next year and has discovered a talent for poetry.

Mum Angela, who works in catering but is also studying hairdressing, said: “To me Mia’s recovery has been nothing less than a miracle. She is so courageous, so talented, and I am very proud of all she achieves.”

Mia said: “When I woke after the accident I was completely confused and didn’t know who mum was, what had happened, and I didn’t understand what was going on. I was wearing a helmet at the time, but apparently my brain was like a jelly in a box that had been really badly shaken and I was going to be in hospital for some time.”

“To say it was all a bit of a struggle would be an understatement, but I am a fighter and hope someone else can take inspiration from that.

Click here to find out what happens for patients at Addenbrooke’s when supporters help us invest in research.