"Cancer changed my options for the future. But it didn’t change my determination. I will achieve my goals.”

What do I do with my life? It’s a question Maddy, 20 was forced to confront in a big way after being diagnosed with an aggressive bone cancer called metastis osteosarcoma that started in her leg and had spread to her lungs.

Back then, Maddy was a promising gymnast, but her cancer treatment involved removal of her shinbone, knee joint and part of her thighbone.

“Throughout my life, my doctors will have to replace these bones,” Maddy explains. “It can be painful to walk long distances, but this has become my new normal.”

The cruellest blow was that Maddy couldn’t return to the gymnastics mat – her place to shine.

Like so many cancer survivors, Maddy now had to set a new direction for her future, but she had missed 18 months of school. With support from Redkite’s Education and Career Consultants, she was able to access tutoring to catch up on her subjects, and was soon back on track with her peers.

“Being a teenager and getting cancer is very tough. Redkite was amazing in helping out,” she says.

It wasn’t long before Maddy had an ambitious new plan to become an international corporate lawyer. With passion and dogged determination, she aced her exams and got into law at university.

“My goal is to work with a big firm with lots of global connections,” she says.

Maddy also received a Redkite scholarship to help cover her university costs, so that she could focus all her energy on her studies.

“Text books are expensive, and this scholarship also helps with my fees,” Maddy says. “It really takes some of the pressure off and makes it that much easier.”

Six years since her diagnosis, Maddy is cancer free today. Her family is so proud of the way she has somersaulted over the hurdles cancer brought. Maddy has just one year left before she graduates and is close to her dream of being a hot shot lawyer!