14
Aug
Ripon carer wins medicine school place after being inspired by brother’s care
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A young Ripon carer has won a place to study medicine at university after being inspired by the doctors and nurses who looked after her disabled brother.
Isabelle Whitehead, 18, who studied at Ripon Grammar School, sought to apply to study medicine after seeing the care that her 12-year-old brother Toby received.
Toby suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severely disabling form of epilepsy, alongside autism.
Isabelle said:
Toby is the reason I want to do medicine, I have grown up seeing the positive effects that doctors and medical professionals have had on his condition.
Toby started having seizures when he was one and Isabelle was eight, involving many ambulance and air ambulance trips and intensive care stays over the years.
Isabelle, who is from Carthorpe near Ripon, balanced her studies while being a young carer at home.
Isabelle pictured with her A-level results.
Today, she achieved A grades in chemistry and geography and a B in biology, and will study medicine at the University of Liverpool.
Isabelle added:
Being a young carer is something I have had to juggle alongside sixth form and revising.
Toby has to have constant supervision, we have to spot his seizures and also assist our parents when he has a seizure.
It was difficult for me and my sister to see him so poorly and still is now when we watch him have a seizure, it’s also difficult to know he can’t be like all normal boys his age and, missing out on sport and everyday things.
But despite all his challenges he faces and learning difficulties he’s the funniest, strongest and kindest little brother we could ever ask for.
Isabelle took part in the Great North Run to raise more than £1,200 for the Dravet Syndrome UK charity last year and has also juggled her sixth form studies with completing her gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.
During her time in sixth form, she was also a member of the senior girls’ choir and worked part-time as a waitress.
She is now looking forward to travelling during a gap year before joining Liverpool’s prestigious medical school.
You can read our roundup of A-level results from schools across the Harrogate district here.
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