She aces O levels while battling severe medical conditions
Crescent Girls' School student says father is greatest pillar of support, hopes to work in medical industry
She was diagnosed with a rare and incurable condition when she was in Secondary 4.
Sherry Lim Xuan Ying also has a chronic gastrointestinal condition called eosinophilic oesophagitis, which gave her gastric pains.
But these severe medical conditions did not stop her from achieving stellar results in O-level examinations yesterday - As for all seven subjects.
The 17-year-old Crescent Girls' School student said yesterday: "My mind went blank at first; the results exceeded expectations."
She added that she plans to pursue either medicinal chemistry or pharmaceutical science in a polytechnic to become a pharmacist.
"I am appreciative of the medical industry, and I would definitely love to be part of it," she said.
At 15, she began suffering from splitting headaches, nausea and gastric pains, which kept her away from school for about four months.
The rare and incurable condition - idiopathic intracranial hypertension - was diagnosed about a year ago and is caused by high pressure around the brain and spinal cord.
The symptoms include headaches and visual loss.
About her medical condition, she said: "I couldn't concentrate in school because I will get headaches that last the whole day.
"Sometimes I would excuse myself from class and cry in the toilet because of stress, and stress usually leads the headaches to be worse."
She added that her father, a freelance worker, is her greatest pillar of support and would frequently take her out to de-stress.
Xinmin Secondary School student Aqil Nasran Shah Nizam Shah, 17, whose family struggled financially, did well too, scoring two As, four Bs and a C.
His father, Mr Nizam Shah Ab Hamid, 54, struggled to make ends meet.
Both Mr Nizam and Aqil's younger sister Aqilah Nur Khalisah, 15, require daily medication and regular check-ups for heart disease and asthma respectively.
"On average, medical bills cost about $3,000 a month and some bills are yet to be paid," said Mr Nizam, who earns an average monthly salary of about $2,000 as a private-hire driver with Grab.
For Aqil, meals often meant either a chicken bao or siew mai.
Two years ago, in Sec 3, he fainted during morning assembly.
Aqil said: "One of my form teachers approached me and I told her everything that was going on. She bought me bread every morning."
He said the results exceeded expectations. They have given him a ticket to his dream course - diploma in early childhood development and education at Temasek Polytechnic.
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