BY the age of 13 Courtney Didd had been through more traumatic experiences than many of us will ever have to face in our lifetime.

A former victim of child sex exploitation, Courtney had suffered a miscarriage, grieved the death of her best friend and was taken away from her mother by social services.

But the smiling young woman, who had turned her back on education before she even started high school, has just been handed the special achievement award at the British Education Awards after netting 10 GCSEs in just one year when she moved to New Horizons Alternative Provision School in Padgate.

She is now working towards her dream of becoming a nurse.

And the 16-year-old is hoping to change young people’s minds about special schools and mental health.

“When my high school first wanted to refer me here, my grandparents didn’t want me to go and we tried to do everything to fight it. Now they can’t believe the opportunities it has given me,” she said.

The teen, who now lives in Burtonwood with her proud grandparents Chris and Charlie, had been through extreme trauma culminating in her giving evidence in a court case at the end of primary school.

She added: “The first thing I said when I arrived here was ‘I don’t like English and I’m not doing it’. I wasn’t interested in learning at all.

“But the teachers here are not only there to teach, they support you as well. It’s like a big dysfunctional family.”

With their help, she knuckled down to her studies and Courtney proved that nothing was going to stop her, even when she was hospitalised with kidney problems before sitting her 16 GCSE exams.

“I wanted to prove people wrong. Until I came here it was only my nan and granddad who believed in me. But it was also down to the teachers here and how much they saw in me,” she said.

“People need to give schools like this a chance. We didn’t at first. And now without this school I wouldn’t be where I am now. I don’t know where I would be.

“My granddad said after I came here my head was taken off and replaced with someone else’s.”

Courtney is now studying nursing at Cronton College in Widnes and looking at scholarships for a place at university.

“I want to make a difference. I want to reach out to other children who might be going through all these difficulties and show them they can achieve something for themselves,” she said.

And the school could not be more proud, as head teacher Karen Thomson said Courtney is a reminder of the ‘resilience’ of young people.

Courtney added: “When life gets you down, the best thing to do is get back up and go and achieve.”